A Photo Essay from Indonesia

A photo essay from Bumi Sehat Birth Center in Indonesia.

Bumi Sehat is the birth center in Indonesia (founded by midwife, Robin Lim) that was the recipient of our very first grant, back in 2011. And this is the blog post that inspired Every Mother Counts to fund a second grant for a much-needed laboratory. Robin and her staff were exposed to HIV/AIDS while delivering a mother and resuscitating her obviously sick newborn, unaware they were infected. Had they known during her pregnancy that this mother was ill, she would have been able to receive treatment that would likely have saved her baby’s life.

Robin shared from her perspective that HIV/AIDS is a big problem in Indonesia, as in so many countries, in part due to tremendous social stigma and misinformation surrounding the disease. In addition, there are extremely limited services available for testing, counseling and treatment. UNAIDS estimates that approximately 610,000 people (230,000 of which are women) are currently living with HIV in Indonesia, a country where about 190 mothers die for every 100,000 live births.

It was obvious that something needed to be done to help mothers, babies, families and staff members protect themselves and prevent transmission of HIV/AIDS during pregnancy and childbirth and to provide treatment to mothers and family members already infected. In December, 2013, we funded our second grant to Bumi Sehat to provide a facility, supplies and staff for voluntary HIV/AIDS testing and counseling plus antiretroviral treatment. This lab also makes it possible for mothers to receive the full range of lab tests they need to have healthy pregnancies and babies.

We thought we’d share these photos (by Josh Estey) so you can see for yourself what the grant you helped us fund is doing: