Alison McBride was one of 60 Forth Valley midwives who lit a candle at a local hospital to spotlight that across the world, one woman every minute dies in childbirth or from pregnancy complications. They were members of the only branch of the Royal College of Midwives in Scotland to take part in the vigil and were supported by 23 branches throughout the UK. The total number of 24 branches represented hours in the day.
The vigil, to mark the International Day of the Midwife, was held at Stirling Royal Infirmary, and the Forth Valley branch of the RCM has given £500 to help mothers and newborns in developing countries and provide skilled midwifery care to women.
Branch chair Breda Seaman said: "Because we have such high quality maternity care in this country it is easy to forget the terrible conditions which hundreds of millions of women have to go through when pregnant and giving birth. Already the United Nations have set a goal to try by 2015, to reduce the number of deaths in childbirth by 75%. We can all do our bit to try to achieve this. Women are dying needlessly through lack of healthcare."
In Africa and Asia pregnancy and childbirth are the number one cause of death in women of child-bearing age. More than a million women die each year leaving around 2 million children motherless. At least 80% of these deaths are preventable.