CNN: Christy Turlington Burns: Make childbirth safe for every mother
Christy Turlington Burns, founder of Every Mother Counts and director/producer of the 2010 documentary “No Woman, No Cry”

“…[I]n some countries, women have no access to basic or emergency maternal health care, while in the United States, many women get medical interventions that put their health at risk — sometimes by choice, but far too many because they lack adequate information or options. … Today, [Every Mother Counts (EMC)] is addressing some of the conditions American women faced in the 1930s: poor access to health care, overuse of medical interventions, lack of education and lack of skilled providers. We also face new health challenges like obesity and higher maternal age plus financial, racial, cultural, and systemic impediments that leave women of color and low-income women with lower quality care or no care at all. We face medical-legal, hospital, and insurance barriers that are out of sync with women’s needs … At the root of it all every mother deserves the highest standard of compassionate health care to ensure safe outcomes for herself and her baby. That work starts by raising awareness that the United States has a maternal health problem and must make a commitment to reverse statistics. We think it’s 100% doable…” (12/2).