NOW is a GREAT time to DONATE!  

All donations to this project will be matched, doubling your donation & impact!

THE CHALLENGE

Tragically, every year, hundreds of thousands of women die during pregnancy and childbirth. Yet most of these deaths can be prevented. While the majority of maternal deaths occur in developing countries as a result of poverty and inequities in access to health services, countless maternal and infant deaths, owing to pregnancy-related complications, occur in high-income countries. 

Indeed, the US is one of only two developed countries whose maternal mortality rates have worsened since 1990. Pregnancy-related complications cause the deaths of over 700 women in the US each year and are also one of the leading causes of infant deaths. African-American and Hispanic communities are the worst impacted.

The SOLUTIONS WE'RE PROPOSING

W4’s field partner, Birthing Project USA runs an innovative community-based program called “SisterFriends”, which mobilizes women community leaders across the US and provides them with training to serve as “SisterFriend” Mentors for young African-American expectant mothers. The SisterFriends provide expectant mothers with crucial education, guidance and support during and after their pregnancies, to improve the health outcomes of the mothers and their babies and reduce infant and maternal deaths. 

In addition to providing indispensable social support for expectant mothers, the SisterFriends program assists the young women in their pursuit of an education and income-generating activities and helps them to secure sustainable incomes, also providing access to health, legal and social services.

THE IMPACT OF YOUR GIVING

Your donation will provide expectant mothers with crucial care and support during and after their pregnancies, through “the SisterFriends training program”. By helping to fund the training of more SisterFriends, you help to grow the SisterFriends network, thereby enabling expectant African-American mothers to access crucial health care guidance, resources, support, and love, thus optimizing the health outcomes of the women and their babies. Each training course provides 10 “SisterFriends” with training by qualified health professionals. 

Join us in supporting this transformative community movement of SisterFriends across the US, protecting the lives of African-American women and their babies!