We must do all we can as individuals to improve changes of survival for mothers and babies. Donating blood is one action we can take. Imagine, enough blood in a facility may have saved my mother. We can still save other mothers by donating. Find your nearest transfusion center and register to become a blood donor now.
In Malawi, the Chichewa word for pregnancy, ‘wa pakati’, also means 50-50.Knowing that childbirth complications and death can be treated and prevented, it is easy to understand why the women of Malawi have adopted such a word to describe what should be considered a joyous and life-giving event.I enjoy birthdays and I love to celebrate. Birth is a beginning to each unique life and journey on this earth. The idea of commemorating the lives of our friends and loved ones is wonderful to me. On the 1st June, I was blessed to celebrate my 28th birthday. However, I came to realize that the older we grow, the more we wish to be ten years younger. We dread the day we will turn 30, 40, or 50; but time has never held still for anyone. This year I had much to think about.On my 28th birthday, this year, I remembered the woman who brought me into this world. I could not help but realize that when she turned 28 on 1st May 1985, she only had a few days to live on this earth. I am always humbled to know that while bringing my life into this world she lost her life at such a young age.My mother became part of a statistic, a prediction that says one in 36 women in Malawi die from pregnancy related complications. One in 36 wives, mothers, and daughters dying from largely preventable causes. Her death, however, might have been prevented if there was enough blood she may have had a chance to survive. She didn’t. And she is not alone. 34% of all maternal deaths are from blood loss.Painful realityIt is a painful reality that many developing countries face, that many women fear and that many families are devastated over.I wondered what her last moments were like. Birth is supposed to be a celebration, not something we fear. It is hard to understand how the system fails sometimes and it is easy to be bitter. However, this much I know, during my mother’s last minutes in life she was able to see that she had given birth to a girl she had been praying for, She was even able to name her newborn. I could imagine she happily smiled and maybe whispered thanks to God. This thought is my comfort.Therefore, in my 28th year I am thankful for life; I remember the women who have lost their lives during childbirth and I pray for their children. I also hope for a better health care system that will not turn its back to this issue. I pray for a country that will move towards survival and celebration and not ‘pakati’.We must actWe must do all we can as individuals to improve changes of survival for mothers and babies. Donating blood is one action we can take. Imagine, enough blood in a facility may have saved my mother. We can still save other mothers by donating. Find your nearest transfusion center and register to become a blood donor now.