All Pregnant Women Deserve Good Care #DifferentPathChallenge

{This is a collaborative post}

When you're pregnant and expecting a baby, the one thing that every woman wants is for that baby to be born healthy, in a safe environment.  We all share in this basic right, every woman being the same. Where you live shouldn't be a factor as to whether that child lives or dies, or in fact, whether you live or die. There is recourse for you, your child, and your family should the unthinkable occur and result in a birth injury. Should that happen, it is important to know that there are empathetic Birth Injury Solicitors in this country who are available to guide you and help you every step of the way.

In Togo, West Africa, 1 in every 20 babies (1) will die before their first birthday. This is the equivalent of you going to your local toddler group and knowing that one or two of those babies won't be here in the next year. Just think how shocking that would be, thankfully in the UK, it isn't every week we hear of a baby dying.

In the UK our figures are quite different, with only 1 in 250 babies (1) not surviving their first birthday. So what's the difference, why are those babies in Togo not surviving? The quick answer is poverty, most families can not afford to access good healthcare or buy enough food. This means birth complications, infections and malnutrition are responsible for claiming far too many little lives.

I don't want to linger on these sad facts for too long though, as us being sad doesn't actually help anyone. What does help, is us using what we have to donate to programs that make a difference to these mothers. Compassion (a charity I have been supporting on a monthly basis for around 15 years) has 1520 Child Survival projects worldwide, with 52 of these being in Togo.

Join #TeamMum to Help Women gain Breastfeeding Support in Meru, Kenya

Any mother will know that breastfeeding isn't always an easy journey. Yes, I think we all understand that in most circumstances it really is the best thing, and of course when you're in a country that can't guarantee a good, clean water supply it becomes even more improtant, but it can still be super difficult.

I was lucky enough to attend breastfeeding classes run by the NHS, along with NCT antenatal classes when I was pregnant with JJ. I can honestly say that these classes made the world of difference to me. When I was in hospital after my C-section and I couldn't get JJ to latch on properly I remembered all I had learnt at the classes and had the confidence to persevere and seek out help. We then had a good few months of successful and enjoyable breastfeeding.

With girls the situation was different, as tandem breastfeeding is quite a skill and add a toddler in the mix and you are pretty busy and quite a demand on your time. But again, I had the help of the local breastfeding counsellor and my health visitors to help me, enocurage me and find the right way through for my family.

#TeamMum are Creating Pregnancy Support Groups in Meru, Kenya - Join Us?

Long term readers of this blog will know that back in 2004 I had an awakening, I'd definitely say it was a spiritual one. For 31 years I'd merilly gone along believeing that charity started at home and burying my head firmly in the sand. Then after becoming a Christian it was as if the blinkers were lifted as I started to see all the injustice in the world.

And you can't see it without it impacting you, so my husband and I started to do what we could, small steps - sponsoring a child abroad, helping with Christian Aid collections at church, giving our time and money where we could, around our work and family.

Then in 2011 my passion and fight intensified and I could see the difference that coming together with other bloggers makes. Each of us making a tiny ripple in a sea of change and those ripples, coming together and creating a wave and ultimately a long-term tidal wave of change that is necessary to erradicate extreme poverty.

Sadly this isn't a sprint, the journey towards an end to extreme poverty is very much a marathan, and one I want to remain in training for. I've realised that my heart is breaking for those who live in extreme poverty, especially women and children, and Africia is the continent that I particulalry have a heart for.

What does a 13 Year Old do with his Inset Day from School?

On Friday it was an inset day at JJ's secondary school. I'm not sure what most of his friends do when it's an inset day but I suspect there are very few of them that do what JJ does and say "Yes Mum! Can I come to food bank with you?".

This is probably the fourth or fifth time that JJ has chosen to spend his day off school with me serving at the Hastings food bank and what does he get out of it you might wonder? Well firstly, he gets to spend the day with his mum of course. Then I sometimes take him to the local Premier Inn for a buffet breakfast before we start work and he also gets the satisfaction of a good days work and having helped some people.

I wouldn't say that at 13 years JJ is particularly altruistic so I don't think his main reason for doing it is because he loves to help others but to be frank it doesn't really matter to me. The fact that he comes along willingly, spends around four hours there and mucks in and helps the whole time are enough. He'll be learning so much from these experiences and they are not skills he'd pick up in the classroom so I'm happy.

Can you Give-up a Tub of Quality Street to help the Homeless this Christmas?

I wrote in my other blog recently how I'm going to be helping at a pop-up winter night shelter over the next few months. It's not something I've done before and truth be told I don't feel that equipped to do it but I know that after I've attended the training I'll feel more confident and to be honest, with God by my side I'll be able to do anything that is required of me.

Whilst I'm focusing my (small) helping efforts here, others have it so much worse. Can you imagine having no place to sleep and then the temperature drops to minus 9 and stays at that temperature? Back in 2012 I travelled to Minsk in Belarus for a week with the charity campaign Operation Christmas Child. Our remit there was to deliver shoe box gifts to those in need and as such I saw a great deal of poverty and met many children living in orphanages.

As I read some of the stories that MissionWithout Borders (MWB) have shared with me for their Street Mercy Project I was transported back to my time in Minsk and meeting all those gorgeous kids who were living in homes with holes in the roof (literally) and having to deal with the issues of abandonment and neglect by parents who have been driven to binge on cheap home brewed 100% proof vodka.

Why BOGOF's are Brilliant!

Note:  Please do read this, it is NOT a paid-for post, I'm just passionate about all people having enough to eat.

I’m assuming you know what a BOGOF is?  Buy one, get one free and you increasingly see them at the supermarkets now and everyone likes something for free don’t they?  But what I find often happens is that you then start to stockpile foods that you don’t really need and the cupboard gets way full of things that don’t get used that often.

Shall I share with you what I do with my free one?

I gave it away. Yep, it cost me nothing, so why not share my fortune because I can?

At the moment I am giving it to a specific family that I am helping but at other times I will give it to our local food bank. My local food bank is run by a church in my town and it has donations of both goods and money from other local churches, local people and supermarkets.  I went to visit a couple of weeks ago and watched as they gave out 2 bags of shopping to about 60 families. Families that are in need because they are living on the poverty line.  Roll back a year and I had no idea that anyone lived on the poverty line in an affluent Hertfordshire town. It is so wrong.

I sincerely wish I knew more about the way our benefits worked in this country as I find it so hard to believe that people are expected to live on such a small amount, it means that even when they have changed their ways and are trying hard to work themselves out of debt, they hardly can. It is just horrifying that a family may split and the benefits go with the partner who has walked out and the person left home with the kids then has to be reassessed, easily taking 2 - 4 months. What will they eat in the meantime?  I used to naively think that everyone had someone they could turn to when things were really tough, I now know that is not the case.

Food banks are a lifeline to some people; the tray of eggs, box of cereal and tinned fruit that they receive are luxuries in their daily meal of plain pasta or tinned soup.  Yes that really was the extent of the diet of a lady I have been helping up until a few months ago when I bought her to my house and started to feed her.

And that is the thing, we are not talking scruffy homeless people here, you may never spot on the street who is struggling and needs help. At the food bank I saw a load of families from my kids' school, all dressed and clean, all with homes and polite children that attend school but for one reason to another, illness, redundancy or such they need food. I now know of mothers who regularly skip their meals so they can feed their children.  Of families who use a microwave to cook everything as they cannot afford to have their well-used cooker mended and of children who have never tasted a piece of exotic fruit as that would just be a frivolous waste of their parents scarce money.

This is the picture in every town in the UK, even the rich ones like mine, where the average house price is £250K. The good news is that increasingly there are more local food banks available and people are able to turn to them but it strikes me that not enough people know about them or know how to access them.  So if you are reading this and you skip meals as you would rather feed your kids or you know that a bag of shopping would make the world of difference to your diet then visit this map and see just how many there are across the country.  Also speak to your GP or Health Visitor as it will be them or specified council workers who will be able to give you a voucher to use at the food bank.

I am passionate to see this network grow.  People coming together and helping other people is so important. In this day and age we hear everyone talking about how so and so needs a helping hand and wouldn't it be great if they got a break? Well, we can all orchestrate that break and it is so simple.  Small donations from lots of people make a big difference.

Perhaps after reading this you feel compelled to put an extra item of shopping in your trolley and maybe some of your local supermarkets have food bank drop-off points for you to conveniently drop the tin or packet into. Or maybe you can give an hour or two a week to help sort the donations or chat to someone in need. 

There is something we all can do.  The question is........ will you?


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What were you Born to do? It's a Big Question!

Right now I am sitting here with a big lump in my throat, I am on the verge of tears and I can hardly breath.  What I want to do is cry my eyes out at the injustice in our world but I won't do that, as although it may make me feel better, it will actually help no-one!  So what I will do is tap away at this keyboard and put my thoughts out for all to see......  and hope that my tiny inept mutterings will affect even just one person and make them think about our world and what they can do to help.

Today there was a conference in London for bloggers, held by Save the Children and I was unable to go as right now my husband is in India. Mumbai today I believe but he has been in an area called Latur, he has been living amongst some of the poorest people; playing with children in a  local orphanage, being with people in a Leprosy colony and meeting widows and people outcast who need help.  I fully expect him to come home a changed man and through this my life may change too. As Christians we believe it is our duty and honour to be able to give to those less fortunate in any way that we can.  I know that many believe charity starts at home and take it back 10 years and I may have felt the same way but I have changed and I am so glad I have. Since we changed our thinking to give first we have been blessed in so many ways. It takes some faith to give before you meet your monthly obligations but from my experience you are richly rewarded for your faithfulness.

Before dh went away he looked at our finances and felt there was £200 he could take with him without us being in dire straits.  You may be thinking, that is OK for you, you can obviously afford it but let me tell you we have a hole in our bathroom ceiling at the moment and a suspected leak causing it but how does this compare to the 3 courses of medication for 12 months that this £200 will provide for some unfortunate people suffering with Leprosy?  It is a no brainer to me, human life has to come before a decorative matter in our warm and safe house.

Save the Children's campaign Born To is really touching my heart at the moment.  How can it possibly be right that in this day and age 8 million under 5 year olds die needlessly every year?  Doesn't that make you want to scream?  It just rips my heart in half.  I feel so small and insignificant and I could feel defeatest and say 'well what can I do, I am just one person' but if we all join together, we are more than just 1 person, we are a very big and powerful voice and we can make a difference.  Sign up to the Born to campaign and find out what you can do.  Yes you can donate but there are lots of other things too.  Raising awareness is also very important and many of you reading this will be bloggers and you have the platform to be able to help with that awareness.  Write a blog post, put a twibbon on your twitter and facebook profile and start conversations with people, ask them what they were born to do. Simple things...but when we all come together and join forces we can make a difference.

Watch this, please watch this....  don't just turn it off and think it does not affect you.  It will take just 3 minutes and then I ask you to take time to think about what you were born to do?



Were you born to teach, run, sing, organise events, look after children, cook, make things?  Whatever it is, think about using that skill to make some money for Save the Children in the next month.  Every penny counts.

No child should die needlessly, every child is born to shine - they just need the chance!

As for me, I am sat here thinking about what I was born to do and I do not really know.  I pray one day I will work for God and do something really worthwhile, but for now I know these few simple facts:

I was born to ... Care
I was born to...  Give (money, time...)
I was born to...  Speak up

What about you?  Think you can join me for those 3?