ABC & Partners Launch Imagine Me & You Contest: Mom Wins a Trip to Australia

By ALICIA TEJADA

Calling all expectant moms! How would you like to win a trip for two (plus your baby) to Australia and make a difference at the same time?

The Million Moms Challenge, in collaboration with ABC News, the United Nations Foundation and Disney Baby has launched Imagine Me & You, a photo contest where expectant moms in their third trimester can upload a picture on Facebook of their “baby bump” – along with an original, creative message written on their bellies capturing their wishes and dreams for life with their little one(s).

America will vote on the images from December 6th to December 15th.  Three finalists will be chosen and announced on Good Morning America on December 16th.  World-reno11wned photographer Anne Geddes will personally select the grand prize winner in January.

The fun doesn’t stop there!  Geddes will shoot a rare private portrait of the winning mom and newborn in her Sydney, Australia, studio!

So how are you making a difference?

For every single entry and every vote Disney Baby will donate up to $50,000 to several of the largest NGOs helping less fortunate moms and babies throughout the world.

Realizing that a healthier tomorrow for our world starts with healthy moms and babies today, the Million Moms Challenge engages millions of Americans with millions of moms in developing countries around issues that affect pregnancy, child birth and children’s health.

Around the world, a woman dies every 90 seconds from complications of pregnancy, yet thanks to advanced technology and research, 90 percent of these deaths are preventable.

“To illustrate the importance of love and family in the earliest stages of life is a message that I stand behind and feel privileged to experience every day,” said Geddes, who has made a commitment to the United Nations’ Every Woman Every Child effort to raise awareness about the need to improve the health of women and children in the developing world. “That is why I am proud to be a part of the Million Moms Challenge Imagine Me & You contest.”

The Million Moms Challenge is part of ABC News’ year-long global health series, “ Be the Change: Save a Life,”  launched last Dec. 17, that has already seen Americans rise to the challenge to fight famine in Somalia, provide education to children in Kenya and outfit the world’s poor with eyeglasses to see.

Now it’s about moms and their baby bumps!

For more information, stay tuned to ABC News’ programs including World News anchor Diane Sawyer’s one-of-a-kind, one-hour primetime special on maternal health on December 16th.

“There is so much we can do together – so many simple ways for us all to link arms to help every mother and child have a chance to lead a healthy life,” said Diane Sawyer, anchor of ABC World News.

Submissions for Imagine Me & You are open from now until December 5, 2011. Expectant moms in the United States can upload pictures on www.Facebook.com/millionmomschallenge.

To get involved in the conversation about healthy moms and babies around the world, follow @AMillionMoms on Twitter and use the hash-tag #AMillionMoms.