Safe Motherhood Quilt Showing in Chicago

Mother Me Inc and the Illinois Council of Certified Professional Midwives are presenting Ina May Gaskin’s Motherhood Quilt Project this Mother’s Day weekend in Chicago. The Safe Motherhood Quilt was created to bring awareness to the rising maternal death rate in the United States and the underreporting of these deaths, and to remember the mothers who have died of pregnancy related causes.

The Safe Motherhood Quilt is made up of quilt squares made in memory of mothers who have died in the United States during childbirth or from childbirth related complications.

Here are some statistics about maternal mortality that I found shocking and sad:

• The United States ranks behind at least 39 other countries in maternal mortality rates.
• In 2008, there were 17 maternal deaths for every 100,000 births, and inconsistencies in reporting mean it could be even higher than that.
• Maternal death rates have gone UP from 7.5 for every 100,000 in 1982.
• African American women and Hispanic women are at a high risk of death from childbirth and childbirth related complications than non-Hispanic white women in the U.S. (Four time the risk for African American woman and 1.6 times for Hispanic women.)

Visit the Facebook Safe Motherhood Quilt Project event page for further information. 

Where: Mother Me Inc, 4654 N. Rockwell, Chicago

When:

Friday, May 9, 2014

• 6:00 pm-9:00 pm – Opening Reception

Saturday, May 10, 2014

• 10:00 am-5:00 pm – Quilt Showing
• 3:00 pm – Guest Speaker Dr. Robert Biter, OB/GYN – “When Birth and Death Collide: Preserving the Sacred and Protecting Ourselves”
• 4:00 pm – Panel discussion

Sunday, May 11, 2014

• Noon-5:00 pm – Quilt Showing
• 2:00 pm-4:00 pm – Henna and tune-up massages
• 4:00 pm – Closing Mother Blessing

Cost: FREE.
Raffle tickets will be available for purchase. Raffle prizes at the event will include: a weekend getaway in Michigan, postpartum doula, yoga classes, acupuncture session, massage therapy, cranial sacral therapy, in-home lactation support & breastfeeding clinic, placenta encapsulation, childbirth education series, comfort measures class, energy healing and cleanse session, belly cast, quilts, and much more! Proceeds will benefit the Safe Motherhood Quilt Project.