Make Childbirth Safe for ALL Women! Support the Safe Motherhood Platform

Dear Senator [Last name],

As your constituent, I am writing to ask you to support CARE's Safe Motherhood Platform, which would provide more resources for improving maternal health worldwide and a plan to invest those resources more wisely.

Each year, 500,000 or more women die from complications during pregnancy and childbirth. Ninety-five percent of them are in Africa and Asia. The lifetime risk of dying during pregnancy is 1 in 16 in sub-Saharan Africa, as compared with 1 in 2,500 in the United States.

We can do better. Almost all of these deaths are preventable, and a modest investment to help a pregnant woman survive childbirth and deliver a healthy baby yields enormous benefits to her, to her family and to her community.

I urge you to:

- Invest more, and more strategically, in reducing maternal mortality by providing family planning and maternal health care. The United States invests far too little in these priorities, despite the death of some 1,400 women every day from preventable complications of pregnancy and childbirth. Over the last 5 years, U.S. commitments to maternal and child health funding have declined by over 11 percent - and this year alone, the administration has proposed a 23 percent cut in family planning funding.

- Support the better use of resources through a package of legislation. You can make significant progress in addressing the global issue of maternal mortality by supporting the CHILD Act, H.R. 1225 and S. 805 - a trio of legislative initiatives to improve the health of mothers and children, improve voluntary family planning programs, strengthen health care systems and address workforce shortages.

Together we can make a difference. Healthy mothers, healthy babies and healthy communities are possible if we work together and make smart choices by investing in CARE's Safe Motherhood Platform. I respectfully urge your support for these critical priorities.

Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your address]