Every second matters when a mother is bleeding after childbirth.

In Kampala, Uganda’s busiest maternity ward, a healthcare team moved so expertly that a new mother went from collapsing to holding her newborn within minutes.

"I felt the panic of the staff, but [midwife] Brenda’s voice was calm," Jalia said, holding her baby girl. "She kept telling me what they were doing. They saved my life by being ready for the worst."

Midwife Brenda knows why readiness is everything. "There is no time to think at that moment — every second is blood lost," she said. That urgency is why UNFPA trains midwives and birth teams to act as one practiced unit when emergencies strike.

Will you make a gift now to train and equip UNFPA midwives who stop postpartum bleeding, so they can act within seconds to save a mother’s life and keep a newborn with her family?

Postpartum hemorrhage, which is when severe bleeding occurs after childbirth, is the leading cause of maternal death around the world. It can turn joy into crisis in minutes, and yet it is often preventable and treatable when health workers are prepared and have the right supplies.

"The training we conduct with support from UNFPA transforms dedicated individuals into a cohesive, lifesaving unit," Annette, president of the National Midwives Association of Uganda, shared. "Midwives are the heart of maternal health, and by drilling them on protocols, we are replacing hesitation with automatic, synchronized action. This is the most powerful weapon against death from postpartum hemorrhage."

Your gift helps fund hands-on training, calibrated tools to detect heavy bleeding, and the coordinated support that makes rapid response possible.

Last year UNFPA training reached over 226,000 midwives, but the need continues to grow. With more resources we can recruit more midwives, expand training, supply more clinics, and ensure our teams are ready the moment a mother needs them.

The U.S. government defunded UNFPA this year. These funding cuts mean more women are losing lives in childbirth, more girls are forced into marriage, and survivors of violence are denied the critical care they deserve. That’s why we’re asking:

Will you make a gift to scale training and equip more health workers now, so more midwives can help moms, receive essential supplies, and stop postpartum bleeding before it ends in another mother’s death?

Thank you for supporting midwives and the mothers they save every day.

— USA for UNFPA