Jennifer Carpenter has a good reason to run. Each year, hundreds of thousands of women die during pregnancy and childbirth due to the lack of pre and postnatal care -- effectively making having a child a death sentence for some women. Pre- and postnatal care is something many of us take for granted as we move through our lives, but in other countries, as well as some parts of the U.S., they are luxuries. When you do the math that works out to be just about 800 women a day dying -- and the thing is we have the "technology" to save 90% of them. Full story after the jump...
This is where Every Mother Counts, an advocacy and mobilization campaign founded by Christy Turlington Burns, steps in. Christy started Every Mother Counts after completing her first documentary film, No Woman, No Cry which debut at the 2010 Tribecca Film festival, a movie about the experiences of women in Tanzania, Bangladesh, Guatemala and the U.S. for whom dealing with these issues is all too real. Every Mother Counts was launched to raise awareness and encourage action, while also partnering with other organizations and corporate partners, like Hope Phones, Riders for Health, Doc to Dock and Save the Children to make change on a grassroots level.
Often the biggest barrier to getting help to these women is lack of awareness and distance in terms of miles, which is why fifty runners, including Jennifer Carpenter, are running for Every Mother Counts in the 2012 ING New York City Marathon.
Go Jennifer!
[Via huffingtonpost]