Stop the Hemorrhaging!

African women and babies are more likely to die during childbirth than any other group- regardless of whether they live on the continent or in the Diaspora. The statistics are shocking and indisputable. Women in sub-Saharan Africa face a maternal mortality rate 100 times greater than that of ‘developed’ countries. And nearly one in ten infants in sub-Saharan Africa will not to live to the age of one year, a figure that does not take into account the disproportionate number of miscarriages and stillbirths. With less than half of births attended by skilled health personnel, many mothers and babies are dying from complications which could be easily dealt with given the right skills and equipment.

Far from being an issue only facing Africans on the continent, maternal mortality plagues African women wherever they are located. For example, black women in the United States are four times more likely to die of pregnancy related complications than their white counterparts, with black babies dying at more than twice the rate of white infants. In Washington DC, which has a majority black population, women are almost 30 times more likely to die than in Maine. In New York, black women die at nearly eight times the rate of white women during pregnancy and childbirth. Many of these deaths are attributable to systemic barriers to healthcare in the US, with Amnesty International stating that nearly half of these maternal deaths are preventable.

The Stop the Hemorrhaging! Tour

Despite the seriousness of this issue, which is essentially the most significant human rights violation impacting African families, it receives little attention. The All African People’s Development and Empowerment Project’s (AAPDEP) Stop the Hemorrhaging! campaign highlights the plight of African mothers and babies while promoting African self-determination as the only sustainable strategy for transforming these conditions. The US wide tour, scheduled for Black History Month will raise awareness of this issue amongst African people while also generating funds to build a maternity clinic in Sierra Leone.

Nurse - Midwife Mary Koroma

Nurse-Midwife Mary Koroma, who will be headlining the fundraising tour, has dedicated her career to combating this threat in her native Sierra Leone- by setting up a make-shift medical shack in a local village and training traditional birth attendants from nearby communities. Sierra Leone has the world’s highest ratio of maternal mortality with 1 in 8 women at risk of dying during childbirth and one of the highest global rates of infant mortality with 123 of every 1000 babies not surviving to the age of one.

AAPDEP will be bringing Nurse Mary to the United States to train at The Birth Place, which is owned and operated by African midwife Jennie Joseph. Here Nurse Mary will learn the basic techniques that could mean the difference between life and death for mothers and babies in the villages in which she works. Nurse Mary will then return to Sierra Leone to pass on this knowledge to her network of birth attendants.

Get involved:

AAPDEP recognizes that African self-determination is key to challenging this situation, where African mothers and babies are needlessly dying during a process which is meant to give life. Unlike charity organizations which only treat the symptoms of imperialism all of AAPDEP’s work is tied into the wider struggle for African control of Africa’s resources. AAPDEP is spearheaded by Africans for Africans and organizes the trained sector of the African population to use their skills for the development of our Africa and African communities everywhere.

There are a number of ways you can share your skills and resources for the benefit of African mothers and babies:

1. Support the building of the maternity clinic by making a donation at http://developmentforafrica.org/donate.shtml;
2. Bring the tour to your city;
3. Work with AAPDEP to organize a fundraising drive within your school, work place or community;
4. Become an AAPDEP member and utilize your professional training for the benefit of all African people.

Please contact info@developmentforafrica.org or call 256-281-1344 for further information.
Learn more about AAPDEP’s work at www.developmentforafrica.org