Ten Easy Ways to Make Every Mother Matter

This Mother's Day, Honor a Special Mother in Your Life by Supporting Safe Pregnancy and Childbirth for Women Everywhere

ATLANTA, April 28, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- This Mother's Day, honor your mother and mothers around the world by showing you care about making pregnancy and childbirth safer for women everywhere.

Worldwide, hundreds of thousands of women die from complications during pregnancy or childbirth each year. Together, we can end these senseless deaths. Below is a list of ten easy things you can do to promote maternal health around the globe:

10.  Learn about how women around the world can have safer pregnancies and births. Watch "No Woman, No Cry," a documentary directed by CARE's Advocate for Maternal Health and founder of Every Mother Counts, Christy Turlington Burns. The film will premiere on the Oprah Winfrey Network May 7 at 9:30 pm ET (and again on May 8 at 1 pm ET) and follows the stories of women in Tanzania, Bangladesh, Guatemala and the United States as they face critical junctures in their pregnancies. Learn more about the film at www.everymothercounts.org/film.

9. Don't forget moms in crisis. As the family members most likely to be responsible for children and the ones with the least mobility, mothers bear a particularly heavy load when disasters, armed conflicts and other emergencies strike. They also serve as lynchpins when communities begin to rebuild. This Mother's Day, remember the mothers who have been displaced from their homes or are helping to rebuild in countries such as Cote d'Ivoire, Haiti, Japan and Pakistan.

8. Make a gift in honor of your mother at CARE's Mother's Day donation page and it will be matched, dollar for dollar, to help mothers in the world's poorest countries. Then, you can share the good news with a beautiful e-card!

7. Support CARE by giving with a purpose this Mother's Day. Support CARE with these exciting gift ideas:

• Every Mother Counts founder/CARE Advocate for Maternal Health Christy Turlington Burns and Starbucks have partnered to create "Every Mother Counts," a compact disc of music inspired by motherhood. Eight dollars of every sale will be donated to CARE, in association with Every Mother Counts to support maternal health programs in coffee-producing countries. Head to your nearest Starbucks to see how you can benefit CARE.
• PF Chang's China Bistro will donate 10 percent of gift cards — up to $25,000 — purchased from April 25 through Mother's Day to CARE.
• Barnes & Noble offers you a way to support CARE when you download and present our bookfair voucher or use code 10453447 in stores or online at www.barnesandnoble.com.  CARE will receive up to 15 percent of the net sales of your purchase.
• Honor your mother with a gourmet gift package of organic, fair trade chocolate, coffee or tea from Full Circle Exchange and 100% of the purchase price will be matched and donated to CARE.

6. Join the Mother's Day Every Day Campaign. The aim of Mother's Day Every Day is to generate the political will and action toward the Millennium Development Goal of reducing maternal mortality by 75 percent by 2015.  Learn more at www.mothersdayeveryday.org.

5. Take a stand.   Ask your legislator to support critical investments in foreign aid, which provide lifesaving interventions that reduce mortality and improve the health of mothers and their newborns around the world. To sign a petition, visit  www.care.org/maternalhealth.  

4. Post your favorite video, photo or story honoring your mom at www.everymothercounts.org/share-your-story.

3. Support organizations that prioritize maternal health. With more than 50 years of experience and success developing and implementing maternal and child health programs, CARE is in a unique position to improve maternal and newborn health at the local, national and global levels. CARE works directly with women and communities, empowering them with access to services and information while influencing policies to ensure that safe pregnancy and birth are a basic human right. Visit www.care.org/campaigns/mothersmatter/index.asp to learn more.

2. Know that even a little goes a long way. $12 can provide a mom with insecticide-treated mosquito nets to protect her newborn from diseases such as malaria. $62 can train a community health worker to provide obstetric care and hospital referrals to expectant mothers. Click here to donate.

1. Share what you learn with others. When people learn that hundreds of other women are dying from mostly preventable causes during pregnancy or childbirth, they want to take action. Tweet or post a message on Facebook about maternal health. Let your friends know that we don't have to wait for a medical breakthrough to save women's lives.  

About CARE: Founded in 1945, CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. CARE places special focus on working alongside poor women because, equipped with the proper resources, women have the power to help whole families and entire communities escape poverty. Women are at the heart of CARE's community-based efforts to improve education, health and economic opportunity.

SOURCE CARE