Sarah Brown, wife of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and head of the Maternal Mortality Campaign, highlighted global maternal mortality at the Royal College of Midwives annual conference on Friday, the U.K. Press Association reports.

“Every one of these maternal deaths is a tragedy but that’s not all. The tragedy is not only the loss of too many mothers because when one mother survives a lot survives with her. A mother’s survival is crucial to her baby’s welfare and often her baby’s life,” Brown said. She noted that better maternal health could improve child health by allowing mothers to help children get access to health care, food and education.

“It’s not so long ago that maternal mortality and girls and women were the forgotten issues,” Brown said after mentioning that G8 leaders had discussed the problem and that the African Union considers it a priority (11/27).

“Leaders everywhere are beginning to realise that girls and women are transformative and unlock the key to everything else,” she said, the Telegraph writes. Brown is also a “patron of the White Ribbon Alliance, which works to improve health care for mothers and babies in 143 countries,” according to the newspaper (Prince, 11/27).