By Jenny Fox | Project Assistant
Dear Friend,
Whether you have just begun partnering with Mercy in Action, or have walked beside us for a long time, I hope that you know that every donation truly has a life-saving impact. The stakes are high in the Philippines, as pregnancy and birth are dangerous for both mother and child without proper care. Your support of Mercy in Action helps families through our sponsored birth centers and allows us to support other facilities where babies are being born as well. In this way, we partner with you to improve outcomes for all the families in our community.
As a longtime supporter of Mercy In Action for 25 years and now a staff member, I’m currently in the Philippines engaged in capacity-building efforts with our midwives and kasamas (companions who accompany families during their baby's First 1,000 Days). One way that I have seen how your donations are saving lives is through the collaboration that the midwives here are offering others in the community. Earlier this year, Vicki Penwell organized training in Helping Mothers Survive Bleeding After Birth for area midwives, and part of the training was the appropriate use of the World Health Organization-recommended non-pneumatic anti-shock garment (NASG.) The NASG is a lifesaving reusable garment that is applied to the lower extremities when someone has had a significant postpartum hemorrhage and is going into clinical shock. Hemorrhage remains the leading cause of maternal death worldwide, but the NASG reduces maternal mortality by 55%! Today Mercy In Action is in the process of donating NASGs to local birth facilities, and I get to help!
Your donations make it possible for us to purchase several NASG that I carried over in my suitcase from the USA last week. I accompanied Marlene, our head midwife, as we donated an NASG suit to the local midwifery college where she had graduated years before, much to the delight of faculty and students alike. It was energizing to see young midwifery students in their simulation rooms excited to practice scenarios and imagine the lives that can be saved as they learn how to use the NASG. This week, we will donate more NASGs to other birthing facilities in our province whose midwives also attended the training, and they will be ready to use it as soon as it’s needed. It could save a life this week!
Mercy in Action’s life-saving impact describes both the direct impact for families who give birth in our sponsored birth centers, and also reaches much wider as we provide training and resources for the other maternal health providers in our communities. Your giving makes it possible for us to be generous with others and improve the outcomes for many more families giving birth in our community!
Thanks and love,
Jenny Fox for the Mercy In Action Team
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