Providing lifesaving maternal healthcare in regional and remote Africa
Around the world, approximately 800 women die every day from birth-related injuries. More than half of these are in sub-Saharan Africa. The Barbara May Foundation funds projects that provide dignity and safety for underprivileged women in birth.
Established in 2009, the Barbara May Foundation (BMF) provides funding to Australian medical professionals Valerie Browning AM and Dr Andrew Browning AM. Running projects in regional and remote Africa (Tanzania, Ethiopia and South Sudan) that relieve the high incidence of death and extreme injury in pregnancy and childbirth. They provide safety, dignity and hope. Maternal healthcare and medical services are provided at no cost, regardless of race or religion.
Projects supported in Africa
Barbara May Maternity Hospital, Ethiopia
Valerie Browning AM
Vision Maternity Care Hospital, Ethiopia
Dr Birhanu Menber
Reconciliation Hospital, South Sudan
Dr Andrew Browning
Kivulini Hospital Maternity Africa (MA), Tanzania
Dr Andrew Browning
Latest News & Articles
Safe Birth Matching Grant – Double the Hope
Double your donation power! A wonderful friend of the Foundation and champion of safe birth in...
Dr Andrew Browning featured on “To Be Human”, a podcast by Jennah-Louise
A word from Jennah-Louise about this episode featuring Dr Browning: "Hello beautiful people. On...
Triple Treat at the new Reconciliation Hospital in Juba, South Sudan
Triple Treat! The team at the new Reconciliation Hospital in Juba, South Sudan, recently had the...
Follow us on social media
Triple Treat! The team at the new Reconciliation Hospital in Juba, South Sudan, recently had the unexpected pleasure of delivering triplets. Mother and baby boys (1.7, 1.9 and 1.9 kgs) are doing well thanks to timely medical care. Pictured here is Marianne, the new volunteer senior midwife from The Netherlands who helped oversee the delivery. Another volunteer midwife is due to commence shortly – both of whom are being funded by the Barbara May Foundation. The Maternity Unit has recently been added to the Fistula surgical unit opened last year where Dr.Andrew Browning is undertaking fistula repair surgery. The hospital is providing much needed capacity to a region that has been critically under-resourced in the past.
#savethemothersavetheworld #africa #safebirth #fistularepair
#barbaramayfoundation
Learn more: www.barbaramayfoundation.com
Join Dr Andrew Browning for dinner and conversation about his work, and that of his aunt, Valerie Browning AM. We will also be celebrating Andrew’s new book, A Doctor in Africa. We will have copies on hand to purchase and you can have them personally signed by Andrew. (What a great Christmas gift idea!) There will also be a terrific Silent Auction with some unique items on which to bid to help us in our fundraising.
Date: Thursday 23 September, 2021
Time: 6.30pm-10.30pm
Venue: Customs House – 399 Queen Street, Brisbane, 4000. QLD
Dress: Business/Cocktail attire
Cost: $150 pp – Includes a gourmet three course dinner and all beverages.
To book: see link in bio.
(Numbers are limited so please book early to avoid disappointment. Please note that in the instance of cancellation due to COVID-19 restrictions – a full refund will be made)
#maternalhealthcare #africa #queensland #barabaramayfoundation #savethemothersavetheworld #drandrewbrowning
Save the Mother, Save the World - this story of Hilda. You can make a difference. This story of Hilda – a young woman who sustained a terrible obstetric fistula from an unattended birth – and the suffered the loss of her baby who died during the delivery. Her story highlights the plight of many women in areas of the world that do not have easy access to even the most basic maternal healthcare during childbirth. The Foundation funds programs that provide all these services for free to thousands of women like Hilda every year, thus not only treating women with fistula but preventing women and babies from dying in labour. Please give generously to our EOFY appeal.
Click here to donate https://bit.ly/3j8r2pa We believe a safe birth is a human right.
#thankyou #savethemothersavetheworld #africa #maternalhealth #obstetricfistula
Save the Mother, Save the World. You can make a difference. As the financial year comes to a close we ask that you give generously so that the Barbara May Foundation can continue to fund these lifesaving services that provide dignity and hope for so many women who otherwise would have nowhere to turn. DONATE TODAY BarbaraMayFoundation.com #Thank you.
Today is International End Fistula Day. Obstetric fistula, was eradicated from most first world countries over 100 years ago once women could get access to medical care for their delivery.
The Barbara May Foundation is wanting to do the same by funding the building and operating of charity maternity hospitals to not only save the lives of women and babies in labour, but also to prevent and treat fistula.
Dr Mbise in Tanzania is doing just that, ensuring well over 2500 women get free and safe deliveries a year and he's pictured here with two fistula patients, now cured.
#africa #safechildbirth #savethemothersavetheworld #fistularepair #maternalhealth www.barbaramayfoundation.com
Dr Andrew’s new book A Doctor in Africa continues to catch the attention of women worldwide.
Listen to ABC’s Christine Anu interview with Andrew about the book and his work in Africa through the link in our bio.
On International Midwives Day we salute our wonderful and tireless teams of midwives in Ethiopia, Tanzania and South Sudan, and the many ex-pat volunteer midwives who have worked in Africa providing valuable training and increasing in-country capacity.
The projects we fund in Africa would not exist without the amazing midwife teams.
To all the midwives around the world, you richly deserve this day of recognition for the great skill and patient care you bring to maternal healthcare.
www.barbaramayfoundation.com #savethemothersavetheworld
Tonight, Dr Andrew's book - A Doctor in Africa - will be launched at the Sydney Opera House.
It has taken Andrew more than a year to write and edit his book sharing the trials, tribulations, adventures and achievements he has experienced as he has worked tirelessly delivering free maternal healthcare and lifesaving fistula repair surgery for the underprivileged women of remote and rural Africa.
It is Andrew's hope the book will raise the profile of the Barbara May Foundation’s projects in Africa.
The book can be purchased in all formats through good bookstores, online if overseas, or through the Foundation – contact Jo.crowley@barbaramayfoundation.com $34.99 plus postage.
Congratulations Andrew for your telling of this remarkable story. #africa #fistularepair #maternalhealth #savethemothersavetheworld
The Foundation will be hosting our annual fundraising event in Melbourne to raise funds for the work of Dr Andrew Browning AM, Valerie Browning AM and the Barbara May Foundation (BMF) in sub-Saharan Africa.
We are so looking forward to welcoming our friends and supporters back after the COVID-enforced break!
We do hope you are able to join Dr Andrew Browning and members of the Board for our event this year, and help us help the most marginalized women in the world.
Friday, May 21, 2021
6.30pm-10.30pm
Leonda by the Yarra, 2 Wallen Rd, Hawthorn VIC 3122
$180pp includes gourmet dinner and wines.
Tickets are very limited and can be purchased here: https://www.trybooking.com/BPHXS
Details: Lucy Gigluto
drhargreaves@ambabes.com.au
We are also seeking donations of goods and services for the Silent Auction. If you are able to help please email Lucy! Thank-you
Last week Dr Andrew Browning was in South Sudan at the new Reconciliation Hospital which we are operating in partnership with the Lutheran Church of Sth Sudan and the USA.
Andrew operated on 35 women with obstetric fistula injuries, caused by obstructed labour occurring as a result of an unsupervised birth.
In future, women from this area will be able to attend the new 10-bed maternity hospital for a safe and dignified birthing experience.
Andrew is pictured here with some of the staff and patients, and another with Dr James, one of the few obstetricians in Sth Sudan, and an anaesthetic nurse, Bol.
South Sudan is a new territory for the Foundation and we look forward to helping the many women here who have had little or no access to maternal health programs in the past.
#maternalhealth #obstetricfistula #savethemothersavetheworld #africa
Today the Foundation recognises the one year anniversary of the passing of Dr Catherine Hamlin AC. Today, Dr Andrew Browning is in Sth Sudan at the Reconciliation Hospital where he has completed 21 fistula operations in the past four days with another 14 to go before heading to Uganda. That’s 35 women’s lives changed for the better – their dignity and health returned.
In Tanzania at the Kivluni Hospital, Dr Mbise, trained in O&G through funds provided by the Foundation and mentored for many years by Andrew, is now on staff. This week he has successfully completed some challenging fistula repair cases - here he is operating yesterday.
This is Catherine Hamlin’s legacy in action and we are proud to support Andrew and Valerie Browning as they continue to provide free maternal healthcare and fistula repair surgery to the most marginalised women in the world.
#maternalhealth #africa #fistularepair www.barbaramayfoundation.com
If there was ever an International woman deserving worldwide accolades – it’s our Valerie Browning! Valerie has been described by many as one of Australia’s unsung national treasures.
She has lived among the Afar nomadic tribes in Northern Ethiopia for more than 31 years and has worked tirelessly to improve their lives. In 2011, the Barbara May Maternity Hospital, funded by the Foundation and servicing more than 500,000 women, was built and became operational including out-reach services to assist women in extremely remote communities.
Valerie was awarded an Order of Australia in 1999 for service to international humanitarian aid through promoting health and literacy programs in the horn of Africa.
Despite battling ongoing and extremely challenging conditions, Valerie remains cheerful and positive about the future of the her beloved Afar people she has come to call family.
Thank-you to all our wonderful friends who love and support Valerie as much as we do!
#SavetheMotherSavetheWorld
The Foundation is excited to announce that Pan Macmillan will publish Dr Andrew Browning's memoir ‘A Doctor in Africa’ on April 27.
With the preface by HRH The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, and foreword by Her Excellency, Linda Hurley, Andrew's book is an inspiring story of his selfless life, from the obstacles he has overcome working in remote, harsh and vastly under-resourced regions, to the compelling stories of the women whose lives he has transformed forever through fistula surgery and access to free maternal healthcare.
Please follow the link in our bio to pre-order. All royalties go to the Barbara May Foundation.
The book is out on 27 April, but you can pre-order it by following the link in our bio.
#drandrewbrowning #adoctorinafrica #obstetrician #gynaecologist #fistula
#maternalhealthcare #africa
Our operating theatre nurses Tom and Eliza have worked with Dr Andrew for many years both at Selian Hospital and now at Kivulini in Arusha, Tanzania.
Their expertise and professionalism have ensured the theatres run efficiently and safely for the fistula patients and the thousands of women who come to deliver each year.
Due to recent changes in the Tanzanian health system they now need to increase their qualifications which will cost $1500 each.
Can you help us by sponsoring their further education?
If you are able to contribute, please do so via www.barbaramayfoundation.org
The BMF-Funded hospital in Barhir Dar, Ethiopia, is achieving wonderful outcomes for the underprivileged women of the region with just over 2,600 safe births recorded last year with no maternal deaths or fistula injuries. We are deeply grateful to everyone who supports this work but none of it could be achieved without the staple of life - fresh, running water.
So we would like to extend a huge thank-you to Alemayehu Wassie, CEO of local NGO ORDA
which recently sunk a bore for the hospital ensuring ongoing water security. This type of non-medical allied support truly underpins VMC’s ability to operate successfully.