5th May, 2011

People in churches across the country will sign "Mother's Day cards" to the Foreign Affairs Minister Kevin Rudd this Sunday as part of a Micah Challenge campaign aimed at prioritising funding for maternal and child health in Australia’s aid spending.

According to Micah Challenge, on Mother's Day (and every day of the year), an estimated one thousand women will die of pregnancy and childbirth related complications, 99 per cent of whom live in developing countries. Women who give birth without a trained midwife present are twice as likely to experience complications, but midwives attend only about half of all births.

John Beckett, Micah Challenge's national coordinator, says mothers play a central role in every flourishing family and community around the world.

“Having recently seen my wife become a mother and witnessed the excellent medical care that she received, I am even more determined that we must do all we can to support mothers around the world” he says.

“Every woman is precious to God and every pregnant woman deserves the same healthcare opportunities we have here in Australia. Every woman deserves the basic security of knowing they have a trained birth attendant with them when they give birth.”

Micah Challenge is campaigning for the Government to allocate one out of every five aid dollars to health initiatives related to child and maternal health and hope to see a significant increase in spending allocation in next week's federal budget.

~ www.micahchallenge.org.au

- DAVID ADAMS