International Youth Day

Happy International Youth Day!

WHO says that pregnancy and birth are a leading killer of girls 15-19 worldwide.

This girl in a village in southern Laos is a mother of two already.

Her lifetime risk of dying due to pregnancy and childbirth is 1 in 74.  In the US it is 1 in 2,400.  In Italy it is 1 in 20,300.  (Yes, the US is in bad shape too en par with Urkaine and Iran — just not as bad as Laos).

She is just a girl.  Help her by funding training for a woman, called a CleanBirth Volunteer, in her village who will educate girls and women about safe birth.  http://cleanbirth.org/donate/

Key facts [from WHO]

• About 16 million adolescent girls give birth every year – most in low- and middle-income countries.

• An estimated three million girls aged 15-19 undergo unsafe abortions every year.

• In low- and middle-income countries, complications from pregnancy and childbirth are a leading cause of death among girls aged 15-19 years.

• Stillbirths and newborn deaths are 50% higher among infants of adolescent mothers than among infants of women aged 20-29 years.

• Infants of adolescent mothers are more likely to have low birth weight.