Four Simple Steps for Healthy Moms and Newborns

Dear Friends:

Nurses from the Bronx and EMTs from Miami went to Port-au-Prince to do what they could in the makeshift camps and tent hospitals where Haiti's people went to find food, water, medical care and solace. Volunteers knocked on doors to check on seniors; neighbors took each other in when power outages hit; and parents lined rural roadways shoveling snow so kids could get to school as people from the nation's capital to Texas to Georgia dug out from paralyzing blizzards.

Ordinary people, together, doing what they can, taking simple steps one after another, and by doing so, helping to transform adversity and heartbreak into hope and a collective strength that overcomes all odds.

With your help, each of us doing what we can, we are making a difference to shift the tragedy of women and babies lost in pregnancy and childbirth to the joy of healthy moms and newborns and the fulfillment of every woman's capacity to contribute to the health and well-being of her family, community, nation and the world.

Here are four simple steps you can take today for moms and babies the world over:

• Donate to Naomi Campbell's Fashion For Relief Haiti. Funds raised go to CARE as they work to rebuild Haiti's healthcare system and WRA advocacy for access to quality health care for girls and women everywhere. Go to http://www.whiteribbonalliance.org/activities.cfm?a0=news&n0=630 to donate.
  
  
• Attend Half the Sky LIVE on Thursday, March 4 for a special one night only event broadcast in 500 theatres nationwide. Half the Sky LIVE will be a night of uplifting music, celebrity discussion and the world premiere of "Woinshet," a powerful short film co-directed by Marisa Tomei that chronicles the struggles of an Ethiopian woman who triumphs over violence and discrimination. Go to www.halftheskylive.com to find a theatre near you.
  
  
• Celebrate the 100th year of International Women's Day. Join the WRA Global Dinner Party by hosting a dinner party, cocktail hour or potluck. Go to http://www.whiteribbonalliance.org/internationalwomensday/iwd.cfm for a Dinner Party Guide and to make your pledge.
  
  
• Elevate women's rights in the 'Change in America' competition. Go to http://blog.change.org/2010/02/12/how-do-you-want-to-change-america/ and vote for Invest in a More Stable World, Invest in Women.
  
  

Thank you.

© 2010 The White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood® and CARE. All rights reserved.