Fund Life Saving Maternal Care for Women in DRC

Hope for Our Sisters is excited to share some news from the Wellness Clinic in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). With your help, we continue to raise funds to provide life-saving care for women who seek maternal health assistance at this clinic. While our organization began with the intention to address fistula (severe incontinence from obstructed labor or trauma), time showed us that by making deliberate efforts to intervene at the root causes of fistula, such as inability to access quality maternal care, we will not only play a role in preventing it, but we will also ensure that the next generation of women are healthy, empowered and free to reach their potential. 

Our partners at the Wellness Clinic informed us that between March of 2019 and mid-May of 2019, ninety-nine cesarean deliveries were provided by way of your generous donations. This is 150% of the cesarean deliveries provided in the preceding period! These procedures cost $110 USD, a that cost is simply out of reach for many people living in developing nations like DRC. Of the women who needed surgical deliveries, eighty-one could make partial payments and eighteen could pay nothing at all. Our fund ensures that all women coming to the clinic seeking life-saving maternal health care can receive the care they and their unborn children require.  

Davina was one such woman. Last year, she gave birth to twins via cesarean delivery, but both babies passed away due to illness and a lack of adequate medical intervention. At twenty-five years old, Davina became pregnant for a second time. Even in high-income countries, it is often recommended that a woman who has had a cesarean delivery have one with all births going forward. As Davina's husband is unemployed, affording a cesarean delivery was likely out of the question for them. However, as she knew of the Maternal Health Funds at the Wellness Clinic, Davina chose to seek care with our partners there and has since taken home a healthy baby!

Thank you for coming alongside us to give these women and their babies the best possible outcomes. We are honored to partner with these beautiful women in the pursuit of hope and health.