Death or a life-destroying injury called obstetric fistula. These are two outcomes that thousands of women in Ethiopia still face when giving birth.
But there is a third possible outcome: a healthy and safe birth where both mom and baby survive, and women like Meseret never have to experience the humiliation and pain of living with fistula.
You can make the third outcome possible for women right now.
Addisu remembers the moment when he realised his heavily pregnant wife, Meseret, was likely going to die.
She had been in agonising labour at home for more than 10 hours when they made the decision to drive six hours to the nearest hospital.
But on the way to the hospital, Meseret’s labour suddenly ceased. She told Addisu that she couldn’t feel the baby moving anymore. And a few minutes later, she too was unresponsive.
“She was unconscious when we reached the hospital,” Addisu says. “The doctors told me that her uterus was ruptured and that she bled a lot inside her abdomen.
“I told them to do anything to save her life. I saw them giving her blood and I realised that it was a serious issue and I started to cry because I felt that she was going to die.”
Meseret didn’t die that day — but tragically, her baby did.