Newborn Health

Posted on April 8, 2013 by aboutproximity

New life emerges vulnerable. The loss of a new life is devastating. We can work together to ensure that more families do not have to endure such grief.

I am a Mom to two kids and one life lost through miscarriage. We all have a story to tell. Woman who give life through childbirth find themselves in a very vulnerable space, good maternal health care ensures the best possible outcome.

When we make maternal health a priority, Mom’s around the world receive a gift of hope.

Millennium Development Goal #5 is to improve maternal health. The MDG’s were designed to be reached by 2015.

The Global Newborn Health Conference will be taking place in Johannesburg, South Africa April 15-18. The world is joining together to reduce infant mortality around the world. The conference will be streaming live here.

These are simple ways that maternal health can be improved globally:

Helping Maternal Health through training programs that identify risks of pre-term birth such as high blood pressure and infection.
Promoting Skin-to-Skin Kangaroo Care research shows this is one of the most effective ways to save newborn lives.
Good hygiene and hand-washing procedures the power of a simple checklist.
Providing good prenatal care to expectant mothers.
Preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
Educating Girls helps prenatal care and child survival rates when the girls someday become mothers.

Photo Credit: UN Photo/Bikem Ekberzade

What Can You Do?

Lend your signature to the Million Moms Challenge the right for every Mom to have a healthy pregnancy, a safe birth and a strong beginning.
Two Degrees for every bar you buy a nutritional pack is donated to a hungry child. (Think TOMS for protein bars.)
Get involved in the Global Team of 200 partner organization Maternity Worldwide.
And the organization Shanti Uganda.
Pull out those gift catalogs and pick a gift that directly benefits maternal health.
You can follow the conversation at Twitter #Newborn2013
Watch Girl Rising and help support education to girls.
Read about PulseOx Screening for newborns.

Photo Credit: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

What is your baby story?

Involving Families: Gift Catalogs

Posted on November 1, 2012 by aboutproximity

Thanksgiving and Christmas move to the forefront during the months of November and December.

Be encouraged to make a difference this holiday season. Place a giving bank somewhere prominent in your home. Work as a family to collect change. Change can be used to purchase a gift through a gift catalog. A great family activity is looking through gift options on the computer or through an ordered catalog. Choose the gift as a family!

What a great message we are teaching our kids if alongside the toy catalogs are options for helping other kids around the world.

Here you can connect to the OxFam America unwrapped page.

Here is the Samaritan’s Purse Gift Catalog.

This connects you to Compassion International’s Gift Catalog.

Here is the link to World Renew’s gift catalog.

Here you can connect to Heifer International’s Gift Catalog.

Here you can connect with the World Vision Catalog.

Stop back tomorrow for more ideas to teach your kids about global gift catalog giving!

Involving Families: Gift Catalogs

Posted on March 20, 2012 by aboutproximity

Gift catalogs are a unique and special opportunity for gift giving. They also provide the material for a great family project.

Gift catalogs are free to order and come through the mail. Below I will provide links for ordering your gift catalogs.

Imagine the powerful message you give your children when beside the toy catalogs is a giving catalog. Reading through the catalog together is a great family activity. Leave the catalog somewhere to serve as a visual reminder. The World is vast, God’s people are diverse, and our impact can be so far reaching. The vision of your family will be broadened.

Page through the catalog together and choose a project.
Save up coins together to reach your goal.
Providing a new soccer ball or a Bible can cost less than twenty dollars.
Consider making a family binder that keeps a running record of all you were able to give throughout the years.

These also provide great goals for classrooms and Sunday school groups. They are special gifts to give in honor of a child or grandchild for birthdays, births, holidays, or graduations.

The Christian Reformed World Relief Committee catalog can be ordered here:

http://www.crwrc.org/pages/crwrc_giftcatalog.cfm??utm_source=direc http://

The World Vision catalog can be ordered here:

donate.worldvision.org/OA_HTML/xxwv2ibeCCtpSctDspRte.jsp?go=gift&&section=10389&prod=yEljTA_gzY_y10uRjRalDha7:S&prod_pses=ZG74ED6F28C3EE0191754C5B222CF6ED51714B7E8849EB2ADD0D9CEB2716A74E41C378F23A9C3D7FBADF3DBFD805C807F59A8460525C903161 t&utm_medium=redirect&utm_campaign=blessed

The Heifer International catalog can be ordered here:

http://sphere.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.204586/

The Oxfam catalog can be ordered here:

https://www.oxfamamericaunwrapped.com/home.php

The Samaritan’s Purse catalog can be ordered here:

https://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/Giving/gift_catalog/

I love that there are countless options!