July is dedicated to Maternal and Child Health, one of Rotary’s key areas of focus.

Maternal health refers to the health of women during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postnatal period. Newborn health refers to the babies’ first month of life. A healthy start in life has significant repercussions for a person’s health and well-being during infancy, childhood, and adulthood.

Every day, mothers risk their lives giving birth and millions of children die each year from treatable, preventable causes. At least 7 million children under the age of five die each year due to malnutrition, poor health care, and inadequate sanitation. To help reduce this rate, Rotary provides immunizations and antibiotics to babies, improve access to essential medical services, and support trained healthcare providers for mothers and their children.

Rotary projects ensure sustainability by empowering the local community to take ownership of healthcare training programs. Through grants from The Rotary Foundation, Rotarians improve access to essential medical services for mothers and their children. These efforts are aimed at reducing the number of children under age five who die each year because of malnutrition, inadequate health care, and poor sanitation – a figure that is currently estimated at 7 million.

According to another estimate, more than 80 percent of maternal deaths can be prevented with access to reproductive health services and trained health care workers. Rotarians provide education, immunizations, birthing kits, and mobile health clinics to support these causes. Women are taught how to prevent mother-to-infant HIV transmission, how to breast-feed, and how to protect themselves and their children from disease.