I can’t talk about Mama2Mama without first talking about another organization, Med4OurWorld.
After meeting Valishia Chapman and hearing her vision to enhance healthcare for women in developing countries, I was inspired. Now, that word ‘inspired’ gets thrown around a lot and it could be easy to dismiss, so let me clarify: I was inspired to action.
At the time, I was pregnant with twins and already had two littles at home. I heard stories of mamas who had no access to healthcare or had to travel dangerous routes over land and sea just for a checkup. My own birth experiences instilled in me a passion for moms and babies and I was hungry to offer support.
A couple years later—when I’d finally gained some measure of stability as a mama of four—I was able to join Valishia on a trip to Fiji for a first-hand look at this vision in action, and that only inspired me all the more! Armchair inspiration abounds, but true inspiration will lead us to act, to give, to get on a plane, to drive across the community, to do something.
I immediately fell in love with the local women and the culture. They are strong, they are kind, and they are grateful for the care and training offered by our team. The team provided screenings and 25 surgeries including pre and post-op recovery care, and I roamed the labor and delivery section to support women in labor.
My first labor did not go as planned, my son was born in the backseat of our car! So walking around those halls, I was impressed and inspired to see every woman laboring without medication—it was their only option!
As I looked around, I noticed the delivery room lacked a lot of standard equipment: suction bulbs, perineal bottles, thick pads and huge mesh underwear, even baby beds! I wasn’t there to help with the medical side of things, but I knew I could help with this.
Soon after that mission, I joined the board of Med4OurWorld to help them expand the maternity outreach program. I led a drive to acquire about $3,000 worth of supplies to donate to the women and hospital on Taveuni island. Delivering all the donated supplies was something I’ll never forget. Everyone was excited and grateful to see so many needed items that would get daily use at the hospital, and being on the ground and showing the women how to use all these supplies was personally very special and humbling. I knew there was much more we could do to help.
This is where Mama2Mama began. I wanted to focus on this special and impossible moment when a woman is handed a tiny human and told to take it home and care for it, her own body still sore and bleeding. It can be such an overwhelming time, trying to figure out how to do it all, how to care for yourself and this new baby who has so many needs.
The goal of the Mama2Mama kits is to offer some support for her in that moment, to let her know she is not alone. The bags are filled with items that will help her with recovery, comfort, and sanitation.
So hit the donate button below to help us launch this work—every dollar you give will directly help a new mama as she starts her parenting journey!
