Countdown to Mothers Day

According to Hallmark, and other purveyors of nostalgia, I'm supposed to be home, with my family, on Mother's Day.

Yeruknesh, Chidimma and Siti died for lack of basic health care taken for granted by all but the world's poorest and most vulnerable people.

Amidst the joy that we will share with our loved ones on Mother's Day sits the reality that too many women and children in certain parts of our planet face the cruel, unrelenting challenges posed by malaria.

When I had my first child, I remember asking the doctor if I would live. My grandmother had died after giving birth to my mother -- in those days it was a fact of life in Xuzhou, where my family was from.

As I celebrate Mother's Day, I am reminded of how fortunate those of us who have access to healthcare are and I am hopeful that those who do not, will, in the foreseeable future.

In the United States "dying in childbirth" occurs rarely. But for women in most poor countries, pregnancy and childbirth are the leading causes of death and disability.

There is a saying in Africa that to find out you are pregnant is to have one foot in the grave. It must sound strange to Americans. But in the developing world, more women die from pregnancy and childbirth than any other cause.

Celebrating my first Mother's Day became a long-awaited dream come true. I felt the presence of my own mother and believed she was my guardian angel watching over me that day and every day.

Malaria is particularly devastating in Africa, where it kills a child every 30 seconds -- several by the time you finish reading this posting.

Ask the children. Ask them if they need their mothers. Effective development means recognizing that mums matter - and that means midwives matter too.

Every minute of every day, a woman somewhere in the world dies as a result of pregnancy or childbirth--amounting to more than half a million fatalities each year.

Progress is being made to save the lives of mothers and newborns around the world. Still, every minute, a woman dies of complications in pregnancy and childbirth.