Today I found out through an e-mail about a campaign being run by Save the Children. I read about it, and then I thought of a thousand excuses why I shouldn’t share it here. Why I shouldn’t write about it. I haven’t blogged in a long time and I saw no reason to change that. I could facebook, or tweet, or G+ it…right? Right?
So I put it off. I went to the site and I read some of the background to the campaign. I looked at all the blog entries that other people had written. That they had, for whatever reason, taken the time to write.
And then I realised that I had to write this post.
The campaign is to get bloggers to spread the word about their Build it for Babies appeal. The aim is to build clinics in Bangladesh so that young children have access to healthcare. To stop the 1 in 19 children dying before their fifth birthday.
It is suggested that we use this space to share our own birth stories and try to imagine how things would have been had the same event happened not in Britain, but in Bangladesh. This is a lovely idea, but one I am not going to completely take up.
There are a very few of you who know the story of Chipmunk’s birth. It is not something that I feel ready to revisit yet – much less publicly and in print – despite the passage of time.
Suffice it to say, that Chipmunk and I are blessed to still be walking this earth at all. We both came closer than I want to think about to not surviving that day. Despite all the medical equipment, skill and resources that we have at our fingertips, the birth of my child came so close to ending tragically. Mistakes were made. Things went wrong. The ultimate price could have been paid.
When I stop now and think of the women giving birth in Bangladesh, day in and day out, I want to cry.
If I had been there when I gave birth to Chipmunk, we would both be dead now. No ifs. No buts. No maybes. We would be dead. Yes, I could have died here – but the resources I had access to meant that things were turned around. I could have died, but I didn’t. He could have died, but he didn’t.
In Bangladesh, we would have.
So please. Click on the badge above.
Or the other one, over in the sidebar.
It’s that simple.
Save a child’s life today.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Heartbreaking, but true. Hugs xx
This is a wonderful campaign. I don't have my own child, but my own birth was extremely dangerous. I think I'll participate in this too.
Stopping over via SITS Sharefest
My recent post The Greatest Commodity
Thanks for sharing about Blog It For Babies and glimpses of what I am sure is a painful memories. I am glad it did not have a tragic ending! Now I think I need to go follow in your great example and add a Blog It For Babies post to my blog …
My recent post What learning experiences will she have?
That's a sobering thought isn't it. That you would both have died if you had happened to live in that country. My birth story isn't quite as clear cut, but it's certainly a possibility that it could have turned out that way in a different place as I had an emergency c section.
My recent post Saturday is Caption Day: Bones
It certainly is. Thank you for popping by and sharing – and sorry for the delayed reply. For some reason my comment system hid your comment from me! x