Christy Turlington is a world-famous model. Those in the fashion world know her from Calvin Klein, Maybelline and Versace, just to name a few of her modeling platforms. However, in addition to her modeling career, Christy Turlington helps poor pregnant women avoid death from dangerous complications during birth. Not only does she enjoy doing this more than she ever enjoyed modeling but she has also saved the lives of thousands of women who could then live their lives and care for their babies.

How It All Started

It all started in the birthing center in New York City’s St. Lukes-Roosevelt Hospital. Christy and her husband, Edward Burns, arrived at the center not long after her water broke. The pregnancy had been normal up to this point, and the birth of their child, Grace, seemed to go off without a hitch. She did not even need pain medication.

However, the placenta had become embedded into Christy’s uterine wall, causing her to bleed heavily. This is known as postpartum hemorrhage (PPH), and it kills 1,000 women around the world every day. The midwife began to suspect this was happening when Christy had not passed the afterbirth after 45 minutes. (Normally, it takes less than 20 minutes.) After another 25 minutes, the doctor had to come in and remove the placenta manually.

The following day, the excessive bleeding had stopped. Christy, knowing that the doctors would likely be able to save her life again, decided to get pregnant again. While carrying her second child, Finn, she and her mother took a trip to the latter’s hometown, San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador. Once there, Christy learned that PPH causes the majority of postpartum deaths not only there, but all over the developing world.

Turlington also learned that many pregnant women in the developing world have to walk to hospitals instead of driving; as a result, many simply choose to give birth at home, without any access to medical care. Learning this inspired Christy to found Every Mother Counts, a foundation that helps cut down on the maternal death rate.

The Charity and the Documentary

Every Mother Counts started out as an advocacy organization that simply aimed to make people aware of worldwide maternal deaths so that they could help. Their first act, spurred by Christy, was to make the documentary No Woman, No Cry. It was filmed in Tanzania, Bangladesh, Guatemala, and The U.S. over the span of a year and shows what birth is like in each country. The bottom line is that The U.S. is disproportionately better at helping women survive childbirth.

While advocacy remains a large part of Every Mother Counts’s overall mission, the organization has branched out over time to include other avenues to help. They sell several products, mostly clothing, and use the profits to help have a greater impact on the lives of the women they are helping. They host running events to raise even more donation money for their cause.

Their website contains forms that allow people to call, email or tweet their congressional leaders to get them to support bills that will help poor mothers survive childbirth. Every Mother Counts has had an impact on more than 680,800 individuals, including mothers, babies, and health care providers.

The Success of Every Mother Counts

Using only donation money, Every Mother Counts funds grants for projects that improve and save the lives of pregnant women in poor countries around the world. For example, in Malawi, they spent $113,740 to give portable solar suitcases to 40 rural clinics, which provided them with a reliable source of electricity with which to run their equipment.

In Syria, $40,350 was spent to help train and equip six midwives to deal with life-threatening emergencies, including giving them home visit kits, medicines, cell phones and more. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, $10,000 went to giving clinics delivery and postpartum beds, emergency supplies and incinerators to get rid of medical waste. All of these efforts and more have saved the lives of over 400,000 women worldwide.

Christy Turlington has had a huge impact on women’s lives as the founder and CEO of Every Mother Counts. She has saved thousands of lives, made many U.S. citizens aware of postmortem deaths in the developing world and given health centers the equipment that they need to prevent many birth-related tragedies. Although she continues to accept modeling jobs, they barely matter to her anymore. The fact of the matter is that Christy Turlington helps poor pregnant women around the world avoid becoming another health statistic.

– Cassie Parvaz
Photo: Flickr