Unbelievable right? In the industrialized world, one of our mothers dies for every 8,000 who give birth. But in Africa, the lifetime risk of maternal death is 1 in 26. That’s right – 1 in 26 African women will die in childbirth.

While a mother dies every 90 seconds, 20 million more sustain life-altering injuries every year. Obstetric fistula (OF) is one such injury. Days of unrelieved labor cut off blood supply to the baby and to the mother’s internal soft tissue causing both to die. The dead tissue results in holes (obstetric fistulas) in the walls separating the woman’s reproductive and excretory systems. So after losing her baby, a woman must live with a never-ending flow of urine that destroys her life.

More than 2 million women are living with obstetric fistula and there are 100,000 new cases every year. But despite an inexpensive surgery that is 90% effective, only 10,000 women receive treatment every year. That means that this year, only 1 out of every 210 women with fistula will get life recovering treatment.

We think it’s an injustice that so many women in the developing world receive dramatically inadequate maternal health care. We want to change that. Our first step in the journey of battling injustice starts by helping women with obstetric fistula. Read their stories. See how we work. See who we are. Learn how you can help.