Save the Mother, Save the World™
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.
Providing lifesaving maternal healthcare
in regional and remote Africa
Established in 2009, the Barbara May Foundation (BMF) provides funding to Australian medical professionals Valerie Browning AM and Dr Andrew Browning AM. They run 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
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To all the beautiful, wonderful, loving mums in the world. From the team at the Barbara May Foundation, enjoy your special day today.
On International Midwives Day we are proud to recognise the amazing midwives (past and present) who work in Valerie's and Andrew's hospitals in Ethiopia and Tanzania. We also proudly acknowledge the village birth attendants who help so many women from tribal and remote regions in the Afar region of Ethiopia. Further we'd like to shout out to all our lovely ex-pat midwives who travel to Africa to bring support and assist with the training programs in our midwife schools. We believe that if we save the mother, we save the world. Simply, if not for our midwives, we could not achieve what we do.Today and everyday, we acknowledge their dedication, unique skills, professional care and endless patience. They care for our beautiful patients with respect and dignity and today we thank them from the bottom of our hearts. #internationalmidwivesday
We would like to introduce you to a new initiative for the Foundation - March To Safe Birth: The Power of Two. During the month of March we are asking you to take part in ANY activity of your choice (have some fun with this!) and gain support from your friends and family with the aim of raising $200 - the cost of a safe birth in remote and regional Africa. You can raise more or less, do it on your own or create a team with your friends! Join us now to give underprivileged women in Africa dignity and safety in birth! Link in bio!! 🧡🧡
Assakwa comes from a remote area in the deserts of Ethiopia. Her grandmother tried to care for during her first pregnancy and labour, but she had no training to deal with the complications Assakwa experienced. The baby died and Assakwa became critically ill. One of Valerie Browning’s remote health workers heard Assakwa was in trouble and walked the two hours to her village. Assakwa was brought to the Barbara May Maternity Hospital in Mille, six hours travel away, close to death but miraculously her life was saved by the professional and free care she received. In the following months, Ibrahim the health worker returned to the village to monitor Assakwa and to teach the grandmother about how to deliver a baby safely and care for the mother post-birth with modern practices. Two-years-later Assakwa was pregnant again, her grandmother cared for with her new knowledge and equipment provided by the BMMH Rural Maternity Programme. Now she has a lovely baby boy, and is fit and well to take care of him! Thanks Ibrahim and the Rural Maternity team.
Fabiola came to Maternity Africa some years ago after a four day labour in her village where she delivered a stillborn baby. Her injuries from the long labour were so severe that she lost most of her bladder and lower bowel and was near death. Despite extensive reconstructive surgery she wasn't cured and continued to leak urine. Recently the Maternity Africa team were able to do an operation called urinary diversion. She is now dry, well and happy.
Dr Andrew Browning AM is considered one of the most experienced fistula surgeons in the world. Along with funding prevention strategies, the Foundation now funds Andrew's work in fistula repair in Tanzania, Ethiopia and South Sudan through Maternity Africa. They also undertake extensive outreach programmes to find women who due to their remote locations, lack of education or access to to maternal services, do not know help is available. All medical requirements and care, and ongoing counselling, are provided for free. http://maternityafrica.org/what-is-a-fistula-as-seen-in-call-the-midwife/
This Tuesday just passed, was the celebration of Ethiopian Christmas Day. All of us from the Barbara May Foundation would like to wish our patients, our nurses & doctors, and all of those that support us, Happy Ethiopian Christmas! Melkam Genna 🧡
Year of the Nurse and the Midwife – 2020
Nurses and midwives play a vital role in providing health services. They are the people who devote their lives to caring for mothers and children. They give lifesaving immunizations and health advice. They look after sick people and generally meet everyday essential health needs. They are often the first and only point of care in their communities.
Maternity Africa recognises the nurses and midwives that work so professionally with love, care and attention at Kiviulini Maternity Centre. Thank you for being so diligent.
According to the World Health Organization the world needs nine million more nurses and midwives if it is to achieve universal health coverage by 2030. Maternity Africa looks forward to the future with hope and confidence, with aspirations to develop further the skills of its own midwives and others in the surrounding communities.
If you would like to support the work of Maternity Africa, please follow the link below. Thank you.
http://maternityafrica.org/get-involved/donate-funds/
Hasna is 35 years old and has 6 live children at home in the Afar desert, Ethiopia. She was expecting her 7th thinking that everything would go fine. After 36 hours of labour she collapsed with dreadful pain and bleeding. It took hours for her to travel the 90km to our hospital and when she came she was close to death. Dr Omar operated on her and her uterus had ruptured, meaning the baby was floating inside her stomach which was full of blood. She 'died' on the operating table and her heart had to be compressed manually to start it again. Two days later she was walking around the hospital wanting to go home. (She's just over 142cm tall, almost as tall as Val).
The Gelada Baboon is one of the many native wildlife species that you will have the opportunity to see on the Simien Mountains Trek with the Barbara May Foundation in October 2020! For more information on the trek, click the link in our bio 🧡
Join us tonight December 5 at Bradman Oval for the Bowral Family Carols. Our pretty rainbow candles will be available for $3 each with all proceeds going to provide safe birth in Africa for underprivileged women. A big thanks to Di Jones Real Estate for sponsoring the candles again this year!
Last week BMF had the tremendous privilege of addressing the annual Paul Harris Rotary Breakfast in Melbourne. Dr Andrew addressed members from around 60 different Rotary clubs in Victoria at this prestigious annual even. He highlighted the needs of women in Africa and the work of BMF. Over the years Rotary has been very generous to BMF and we look forward to more collaborations in the future.
We are lucky to have a team of volunteers working with our staff in Ethiopia. Dr Margaret, a long term volunteer has been accompanied by two midwife tutors from Melbourne, Atlanta and Elisa. They've been working hard, supporting our staff, teaching in surrounding government health centres and of course ensuring that every woman delivers with the best possible care. Thank you Dr Margaret, Elisa and Atlanta.
Medina came to our hospital in the Afar desert last week. She was circumcised two years ago at the age of eight and was leaking urine since. She had the circumcision reversed, but she was still wet. We found a huge stone filling her bladder. It's now removed and she's getting better, smiling again.
VALERIE BROWNING AM
Valerie Browning AM has lived among the Afar nomads in Ethiopia for more than 25 years and has worked tirelessly to improve their lives. The Afar region is one of the poorest places on earth where temperatures regularly hit 50 degrees and one in three children die before the age of five. In 2011, the Barbara May Maternity Hospital funded by the Foundation and servicing more than 500,000 women, was built and became operational. In addition, out-reach services are provided to remote villages, and more than 2,000 village birth attendants have been trained. Valerie was awarded an Order of Australia in 1999 for service to international humanitarian aid through promoting health and literacy programmes in the horn of Africa.