Decreasing the newborn and maternal mortality rate in Somaliland and the Horn of Africa.
The Mission of the Edna Adan Hospital
Somaliland’s health care system was utterly destroyed by the civil war leaving the country with, among other problems, the highest rate of maternal and infant mortality in the world. It is a goal of the Hospital not only to train fully-qualified health care professionals but also to train and dispatch 1000 midwives throughout the country.
Another very important goal is to fight the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) which is endemic throughout this region.
In recognition of these and other achievements, the hospital founder Edna Adan Ismail was in 2010 awarded the French Legion of Honor, a French Knighthood. Visit her site
“Somaliland has one of the worst maternal mortality ratios in the world, estimated to be between 10,443 and 14,004 per 100,000 live births,” said Ettie Higgins, head of the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) field office in Hargeisa.”The infant mortality rate is 73 per 1000 births.”(To put things into perspective US maternal mortality is 21 per 100,000 live births with an infant mortality of 5 per 1000 births)
Mothers giving birth to premature babies must often make the impossible *"Sophie's Choice" as to whether to try to find the money to keep their little ones in the hospital or take it home to die peacefully and have enough to care for their other children. Costs to patients in the Edna Adan Isamail Maternity Hospital are kept as low as possible for this reason and are only $10 per day in the Neonatal Intensive Care ($20 if oxygen is required) and that includes the mother's bed and food. Even with this low price a premature baby may need weeks or even months until it can survive at home.
Please Give Babies A Chance At Life by donating
