by JoDee Winterhof, CARE Vice President, Policy and Advocacy 

This past Friday, we had an impressive attendance at Speaker Pelosi's dining room at the U.S. Capitol to discuss solutions to maternal health on a global scale. Attending were some 30-40 people, including the majority of the Mothers Day Every Day (MDED) advisory committee and congressional senior staff most active in moving this agenda issue forward. Great conversation and ideas were shared about what can be done both inside and outside of Congress to continue to build momentum into the New Year. Our goal is to scale up successful, cost-effective programs to reach more women with the health services they need to ensure a safe pregnancy, childbirth and adequate care afterward. A critical part to these efforts also includes voluntary family planning services so women in developing countries can become better informed about birth spacing and contraception options.

I had the opportunity to give an overview of the congressional landscape, rolling back the clock to 2008 when members of the House and Senate adopted Congressional resolutions. This signaled their initial commitment to significantly reduce the more than half a million preventable maternal deaths every year. Right now there's legislation in the works that we hope will be introduced in the coming months. We're also closely tracking final action on the FY10 appropriations bill. In 2009, for example, Congress provided $495 million for maternal and child health programs. We hope that amount will increase for FY10 and were pleased that Representatives Moore, Capps and Woolsey were joined by 30 colleagues in sending a letter requesting that additional funding. It goes without saying that all of us in the room have also been pleased by the Obama administration's commitment to maternal health, along with the appointment of MDED Advisory Committee member Melanne Verveer as the first-ever Ambassador-At-Large for Global Women's Issues at the State Department. This will help ensure that women everywhere have a seat at the table as U.S. global policies are determined.

This first MDED advisory meeting couldn't have come at a better time as we plan activities to elevate the maternal health issue in the coming months. I was pleased to introduce CARE Advocate for Maternal Health Christy Turlington Burns, who showed a trailer to a feature-length documentary she's producing and directing called No Woman, No Cry. I believe the film will help generate awareness and really motivate more people to become champions for this often forgotten issue. CARE also continues to plan for our next series of Learning Tour trips, one of our activities supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This January, for example, CARE President Helene Gayle will host a trip to Sierra Leone just before she heads to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.  We're also looking forward to CARE's National Conference in May and for the Women Deliver 2 conference in June – both to be held in our nation's capitol.

The bottom line is the United States, corporations and concerned citizens have an enormous opportunity to set an example for others to follow. Maternal mortality is a problem we can solve together. A healthy mother, after all, is the glue that holds a family together. Without her, time and time again, we see how the family breaks apart – children less likely to eat well, go to school and get immunized against diseases. Healthy mothers also are a linchpin for achieving the other Millennium Development Goals. We can make progress when adequate resources are invested effectively with mothers. Thanks again to everyone who attended and for all you do (and will continue to do) to reduce preventable maternal deaths.