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An important focus at Vitamin Angels is our Maternal Health Program. We administer prenatal supplements to expecting mothers to prevent and treat malnutrition and to prevent hemorrhaging during childbirth. Malnutrition causes low birth weights, stunting, vulnerability to disease and illness, weakened immune systems, increased chances of infant mortality, impaired brain development, and poor structural as well as mental development. When babies do get the proper nutrition they need in the womb, they have good birth weights, grow to their full height, are smarter, can resist common childhood diseases and infections, and thrive with energy to play and learn. Complications from childbirth are a leading cause of death and disability among women of reproductive age in developing countries. Every year more than 500,000 women die during childbirth, and at least 10 million women suffer injuries, infection, and disabilities.

Hemorrhaging during childbirth is now the leading killer of adult women in many of the small islands in Indonesia. Traditional midwives are afraid to attend births since this has become a major problem. Nutritional levels dramatically declined after the introduction of genetically modified rice in the 1960’s. Malnutrition was compounded when the economy fell apart following two terrorist bombings in recent years. Many impoverished women only eat two bowls of rice per day during their pregnancies which can lead to complications during and after delivery. Vitamin Angels’ Maternal Health Project is working with local midwives at Yayasan Bumi Sehat, a midwifery clinic in Bali to change this and to improve the nutrition of these women during their pregnancies. A simple bottle of prenatal vitamins can assure a safe delivery for the mother and a healthy baby.

“In Indonesia nearly all the pregnant women Yayasan Bumi Sehat looks after are malnourished. Thanks to the beautiful supplements provided to them by Vitamin Angels, they are hemorrhaging less in childbirth, having better birth outcomes, and breastfeeding successfully. I believe the vitamin supplements are contributing to the future health, intelligence and well being of the next generation.” - Lim, CPM, Yayasan Bumi Sehat Clinic