Model And Maternal Health Advocate Christy Turlington Burns: I Would Not Have Survived If I Lived In A Rural Community

Model, maternal health advocate and supermom Christy Turlington Burns was in Chicago, Ill., this week for a film screening of her documentary "No Woman, No Cry" at the Gene Siskel Film Center, ABC News reports.

The film -- which first premiered in March 2010 at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City -- is Turlington Burns' directorial debut.

In it, she shares the powerful stories of at-risk pregnant women in four parts of the world, including Bangladesh and the United States.

When "No Woman, No Cry" was first launched, Marie Claire called Turlington Burns a "model citizen" and lauded her film for its call for crucial discussion about maternal health.

Through the documentary and its treatment of the universal experience of birth, Turlington Burns hoped to create a "mainstream maternal health movement that ensures the lives and well-being of mothers worldwide," said the film's website.

According to the WHO, 1000 women die daily from pregnancy-related causes.

"One woman is too many women," Turlington Burns told ABC News. "Every mother counts. Every mother."

Every Mother Counts is also the name of the advocacy and mobilization campaign that Turlington Burns founded in 2010. Its aim is to increase education and support for maternal mortality reduction globally.

"Without all of us coming together on the issue of improved maternal health, there will be no lasting success," she wrote last year in the Globe and Mail. "No woman should die giving life."

Turlington Burns has said that a difficult personal experience inspired her to take up this critical cause. After delivering her first child, the mother of two suffered a serious complication.

"If I had been in a rural community, I would not have survived," said Turlington Burns, who is also a CARE ambassador. "That realization made me really want to do more."

Now, after the success of her first film, Turlington Burns' husband, filmmaker and actor Edward Burns, told ABC News that another documentary may be in the works.

Watch a trailer for "No Woman, No Cry" here.

Christy Turlington Burns blogs for The Huffington Post.

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Comments

[Arvilla7]

02:28 AM on 10/18/2012

There should be a lot more abortions and a lot more use of birth control and condoms. People should practice a lot more responsible parenting planning before irresponsibly becoming pregnant so often. The planet is way too overpopulated and for many of the wrong reasons. Yes women who have thoughtfully planned a responsible pregnancy should be maternally safe and healthy but that takes fiscal responsibility on the part of the mother and her partner and we all do not have the Turlington Burns assets and we all should not depend on welfare or public assistance to finance our pregnancies, if you need financial assistance from the government in order to procreate, then, you should not be procreating.

[Arvilla7]

02:39 AM on 10/18/2012

Is Christy not modeling so much anymore and simply needs to transition into another successful career such as film production? At risk pregnant women in four parts of the world need available abortions, also in many parts of the world women need to be protected from roaming rapists who rape on a daily basis, impregnate women of all ages and spread diseases. Christy you need to stop unwanted sex, stop rapes, protect women from crime, don't just look at their needs during pregnancy, go back in time and find out how they became pregnant, was it there own choice or the choice of a criminal? How about educating these women, these at risk women in four parts of the world. Reduce crime against women, reduce rapes, reduce unwanted pregancies, increase birth control, increase the availability of abortions to all who want them, stop minor girl children from getting pregnant before they are mature enough to make an educated decision, a responsible decision.

[Assumed Name]

09:07 AM on 04/22/2012

How excellent--and love the title from Marley.

[No death panels]

04:58 AM on 04/22/2012

She'd save alot more lives promoting birth control.

[Arvilla7]

02:47 AM on 10/18/2012

Absolutely, I am with your opinion all the way. I do not appreciate Chelsea Clinton joining Turlington Burns on this so called initiative to make a film when women in those four parts of the world are not practicing any birth control, are suffering crimes against them and constant rapes. Yes, I agree with you that a lot more lives would be saved by promoting birth control.

[SSGreyalexandro]

11:49 PM on 04/21/2012

She is pretty cute.

[sagefeldemeyer]

01:37 AM on 04/22/2012

that's not the point.

[SSGreyalexandro]

12:56 PM on 04/22/2012

I want her number. Do you have it?

[Solidspine]

09:47 PM on 04/21/2012

I think she is right

except her very naive and very young

comments about rural America

But good luck with that

she will do great - based upon beauty.

[WhereIsTheTruth]

12:00 AM on 04/22/2012

Do you know what her pregnancy complication was? Do you know for a fact that every rural community in America has quick access to the level of medical care that she needed in order to survive the pregnancy? If you cannot answer yes to both questions, you had no business accusing her of being naive. Claiming that the naivete you accuse her of is rooted in youth is laughable since she is 43, which means believing she will achieve success based upon her beauty is laughable since she is no more attractive than any other 43 year old woman.

[Lifer2006]

12:50 AM on 04/22/2012

Ok, let's not get carried away here. She IS MORE attractive than pretty much 80% of women walking the US of A. She is one of the most beautiful women walking this earth. I was born in Colombia. I should know better.

[khanista]

05:39 AM on 04/22/2012

Why argue with an Alabama cracker troll?

[SirenForSanity]

12:45 AM on 04/22/2012

She is 43 and has already 'done great' based upon beauty, being a supermodel. She's is also very accurate about her statements. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2409165/

[dtroppy]

08:29 PM on 04/21/2012

She is a beautiful woman inside and out and the world sure does love that she's in it...

[melissaj376]

08:20 PM on 04/21/2012

I also love how she's not overly made up. She looks great!

[Lindeen]

06:13 AM on 04/22/2012

It doesn't look like she's wearing a drop of make-up.

[hq710]

08:09 PM on 04/21/2012

Christy Turlington - beautiful Latina inside and out.

[SkreetGil1]

05:59 PM on 04/21/2012

She is awesome! Thanks Christy!!

[plaidsportcoat]

05:41 PM on 04/21/2012

Love that she does positive things from her pedestal!

[Lindeen]

06:14 AM on 04/22/2012

Right. Good for her for caring about others.

[PrimoPablo]

04:55 PM on 04/21/2012

Stop the presses...wait...who?

[lovefromTX]

04:48 PM on 04/21/2012

Beauty and brains!

[MissMiniMonster]

04:47 PM on 04/21/2012

I was much in the same boat as Christy Turlington was and I was later told that both me and my son could have died had we not had quick access to a hospital (we originally planned a birthing center).

The United States has the highest infant and maternal death rate in the industrialized world and more focus should be put on that as well. I'm glad that the documentary included a mother from the United States.

[jedwightn]

06:13 PM on 04/21/2012

I'm sure that republicans will turn that statistic around with their women's health initiatives, NOT!

[Mindy Czech]

04:46 PM on 04/21/2012

The US has one of the highest infant mortality and maternal mortality rates in the western world, and has actually been on the rise in the last few years. In 2005, it was 11 per 100000 live births, and raised to 13.6 out of 100000 in 2006. And that's nothing compared to countries like Sierra Leone, where it's 2000 per 100000. It's an issue that needs some serious attention paid to it, and is sadly ignored by many people.

[momtotwo]

04:40 PM on 04/21/2012

I almost died giving birth if not for first rate care in a large city hospital in the US. Giving birth is a natural event but it can be dangerous which is why I think its so important that this be highlighted. Cheers for Christy doing this when she could have just moved on with her life.