Liya Kebede is a stunning model, actress and humanitarian. She’s also a mother who believes every woman has the right to be a mother. It sounds like a simple notion, and you may wonder why that would even be a question. Well, it’s an issue when every minute, one woman dies of pregnancy and childbirth related complications, and 90% of those deaths are preventable. 99% of maternal deaths occur in the developing world. These are the figures behind the reason for the Liya Kebede Foundation. The foundation “is committed to ensuring that every woman, no matter where she lives, has access to life-saving care.  [They] work to educate policy makers and support programs that save lives in partnership with governments, non-governmental organizations, corporations and affected communities. Saving mothers’ lives requires the strategic coordination and deployment of resources, skilled doctors and midwives, ambulances, roads, clean sheets and basic medical tools, just to name a few.”

(Source: http://www.theliyakebedefoundation.org/about.php)

Is being a mother something we take for granted in America? Take a look at this video from the foundation as it contrasts a woman in the US with a woman in Ethiopia and think about this question:

(Source: The Liya Kebede Foundation YouTube Channel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CM1OMoRhZdM&feature=channel_video_title)

There is a wealth of information on Liya’s foundation website:

http://www.theliyakebedefoundation.org

With modern-day advances in healthcare and the tools and expertise available in America and other developed countries in the world, it seems only fair that the rest of the world has access to these resources as well.

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