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Mothers Day, Everyday

With Mother’s day just passed, Labour MEPs in the European Parliament have added their support to the White Ribbon Alliance for Safer Motherhood.

On any day more than 1,400 women will die as a result of complications during pregnancy or childbirth, either because they have no access to health care or cannot afford it. This is a humanitarian crisis that is affecting the poorest women in Asia, Africa and Latin America - and it is one that will continue, unless we commit ourselves to tackling the lack of effective medical care in many parts of the world.

Speaking last week from the European Parliament Neena Gill MEP (Labour, West Midlands) said: “40% of women globally give birth without any skilled assistance. There are thousands upon thousands of grieving motherless children in the developing world. I am calling on the European Union to reach its target of spending 20% of development aid on building health care systems to make childbirth safer."

"The current global financial crisis brings real challenges for the financing and quality of health in the developing world, but especially on Mothers Day we must not forget to support progress on making pregnancy and childbirth safer."