UBC Midwifery Students for Global Citizenship

 In 2010, at the G8 Summit, Canada pledged to improve maternal health and reduce child mortality as part of the UN Millenium Development Goals. Progress towards these goals has been slow, and hundreds of thousands of women and infants still lose their lives every year from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth.

As UBC midwifery students, we find this is devastating. Years ago we developed a group called Students for Global Citizenship. Students and UBC faculty go to Uganda every year since 2006, and most recently to Nepal, to attend births in local public hospitals with two goals in mind:

For faculty to provide foreign maternity staff with workshops on obstetrical skills and neonatal resuscitaion
For students to learn emergency skills in low-resource areas
We work hard to attain sustainability to ensure knowledge and skills remain in communities by teaching head staff who then train local providers. Since our time there staff has noticed improved outcomes for newborns.

As rural and remote areas in BC are facing shortages of skilled maternity providers, emergency training is critical. Students come back with a deeper understanding of women’s health issues, women’s rights and birthing practices.

To ensure we have the resources to move forward, a few students are organizing two fundraisers to support Student for Global Citizenship: one on March 30 and another in May. All monies raised will go to purchase equipment for workshops and support midwives in Uganda and Nepal to pursue research, all to reduce unnecessary maternal and infant deaths.

To donate 10% of your order's subtotal to this project, simply write "donate UBC" in the note section at checkout. Please note that a donation is not compatible with a discount code.