Interview, Fireside Chat
Christy Turlington Burns - Advancing Global Maternal Health: Talks at GS
- Founding of Every Mother Counts
- Established in 2010 by Christy Turlington-Burns following a postpartum hemorrhage complication during the 2003 delivery of her daughter, Grace.
- Launched via the 2010 documentary No Woman, No Cry and supplemented by Turlington-Burns' Master's in Public Health from Columbia University.
- Driven by the statistic that 98% of global maternal deaths are preventable.
- Global Maternal Health Statistics and Barriers
- At the time of discovery, maternal mortality affected over 500,000 women and girls annually.
- Identified three primary scalable barriers to maternal survival: lack of transportation, education, and medical supplies.
- Transportation challenges often require women in sub-Saharan Africa to walk 5 to 70+ kilometers to access care or emergency cesarean sections.
- Current initiatives symbolize the organization with an "orange rose" to represent the fragility and strength of motherhood.
- Maternal Health in the United States
- The U.S. maternal mortality ranking dropped from 41st to 60th globally.
- Despite high provider density, gaps in care persist even under the Affordable Care Act due to insufficient Medicaid reimbursement.
- New CNN series Giving Birth on America highlights these domestic disparities alongside international issues.
- Current policy confusion regarding care access leaves many women at risk of losing coverage or services.
- Personal Background and Career Trajectory
- Discovered at age 13 by a photographer while riding horses with her sister; began professional modeling career at age 18.
- Early exposure to Africa, India, and Asia through modeling trips later shaped her advocacy focus.
- Previously engaged in cancer advocacy after her father died of preventable lung cancer at age 27.
- Maintained a focus on authentic causes related to personal experience and preventative healthcare.
- Media and Advocacy Projects
- No Woman, No Cry (2010) served as the initial documentary film to raise awareness.
- Giving Birth in America (CNN series) expanded the conversation to include U.S. maternal mortality issues.
- Turlington-Burns utilizes her platform to visit developing nations and witness medical realities firsthand.