The Million Moms Challenge is excited to an announce an alliance with healthcare pioneer Dr. Paul Farmer, and his organization,  Partners in Health, one of the world’s leading providers of community-based care in the developing world.

Million Moms Challenge recently sat down with Dr. Farmer to learn more about the work Partners in Health is doing to reduce maternal mortality.

“We shouldn’t be taking short cuts if we want to drop maternal mortality,” he said.  “You have to invest in prenatal care. You have to make sure that complicated deliveries are attended by skilled providers and I think that is happening all over the world.  We’re seeing rates of maternal mortality drop as we make better investments.”

When Partners in Health began as a small community-based clinic in Cange, Haiti, a quarter of a century ago, no one imagined it would develop into one of the world’s leading health organizations in the developing world. They now serve patients in twelve countries who otherwise would not have access to adequately trained healthcare workers.  Today, that modest first clinic in Cange alone treats nearly two million patients a year.

In the tiny African nation of Lesotho, an alarming number of women – 1 in 48 – die during childbirth.  Even minor complications often become life-threatening conditions, primarily due to the lack of basic medical care. Partners in Health’s Maternal Mortality Reduction Program at  Bobete Health Center has trained over 650 maternal health workers to accompany pregnant women living in remote villages of Lesotho, South Africa, to Bobete for treatment during their pregnancies and for safer deliveries. During the first year of the program, deliveries at Bobete rose 350 percent and maternal and newborn mortality rates in Lesotho continue to decline.

The Million Moms Challenge is proud to join forces with Dr. Farmer and Partners In Health. We salute their efforts to reduce maternal and infant mortality.

Learn more about the clinic here:

Take Action:  Join Dr. Farmer and Partners In Health in taking the Million Moms Challenge.  Show your support today and sign up now,  and “Like” us on Facebook.  For every sign up and “Like”, Johnson&Johnson will donate $1 in your name towards reducing maternal and infant mortality worldwide.