In addition to offering Swedish-made organic infant formula & supplementary nutrition, we as parents, through our business, want to contribute to creating better conditions for a safe start for everyone. We believe that a safe start for babies and their parents begins with a safe and secure delivery.
Giving birth is an incredible reminder of how fragile life is. What a mother-to-be goes through during childbirth is almost unfathomable to understand that women around the world go through in all kinds of circumstances. In most cases in circumstances that are far from being as safe and secure as they usually are in Sweden. In fact, in many parts of the world, women give birth with legitimate concerns and fears for their own and/or their baby’s life. Maternity care may not be within reach, and if it is, it is substandard.
As parents and founders of Unna, we have decided to do what we can to improve the situation and fight for better access and quality of maternity care in developing countries. We want to do what we can to give more people a safe start.
With the Safe Start initiative, we want to create a common cause to stand behind: the right to a safe and secure birth. Through Unna, we will actively work to raise the issue of the right to a safe and secure childbirth, and more directly, part of our sales revenue will go to Läkarmissionen’s important work for safe childbirth.
Läkarmissionen operates internationally with aid and works to help people in need. They work on long-term poverty reduction in four areas: food security and livelihoods, health and well-being, education, and sanitation and water. In line with the UN’s global goal for 2030 that no woman should have to die from her pregnancy for preventable reasons, Läkarmissionen works more specifically to ensure that all women have the right to a safe birth. This is done by improving and making the right care available to women giving birth in various ways.
Every day, around 800 women die as a result of their pregnancy or childbirth. It is estimated that 9 out of 10 deaths in pregnancy and childbirth could be avoided with the right care. The majority of births worldwide take place at home, and it is in countries where the proportion of home births is highest that maternal mortality is also highest. Among the most vulnerable and affected are young women living in poverty, often in rural areas or who are refugees.
An important part of improving the prospects of mothers (and babies) surviving childbirth is to inform about the importance of giving birth in a health facility. Once in hospital, it is important that the birth takes place surrounded by skilled health professionals, and that the necessary equipment and medicine are available. Through Läkarmissionen’s work in both DR Congo and Tanzania, thousands of births have been assisted, midwives trained, and necessary equipment and vaccines distributed. Furthermore, Läkarmissionen has enabled important aftercare for women, provided training in family planning and helped set up vaccination plans for children before they leave the hospitals.
By supporting Läkarmissionen’s important work to improve maternal and childbirth care in vulnerable areas, we can together help give more people a safe start to parenthood.
Do you want to get involved in making maternity care accessible to more people, and working to improve existing care? Or are you committed to the issue and willing to cooperate? Do you have suggestions or ideas? We believe in joining forces – so feel free to contact us!
If you want to contribute now, you can donate the gift of a safe birth.
WHO rekommenderar uteslutande amning under de första 6 månaderna. UNNA stödjer detta till fullo liksom fortsatt amning tillsammans med introduktion av en varierad kost enligt råd från barnhälsovården.
The WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months. UNNA fully supports this as well as continued breastfeeding along with the introduction of a varied diet as advised by child health services.
