This is baby Tessie and her adoptive mother, Dee.

Tessie was born a couple of months ago in a village two hours from the nearest health centre in East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Tessie survived the birth but her mother, Rose*, was not so lucky. Rose had a torn placenta and was bleeding continuously. She had postpartum haemorrhage, one of the most common causes of maternal death in PNG and globally, and tragically she died the day after giving birth.

To save precious lives we need to understand the complex reasons why so many women and their babies die as a direct result of childbirth in PNG.

However, with the right knowledge and interventions, most of these deaths could be prevented.

A Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies (HMHB) Principal Investigator, Dr Michelle Scoullar said that gathering evidence and knowledge is a crucial first step.

“With the right knowledge, we can understand what the problems are, what the needs in the community are, and then develop a really strong action plan. It’s like having a road map. Without it, you’re lost, but with it we can really make sure we know the way to make the biggest difference,” she said.

Dr Scoullar and her team urgently need your support.

• names changed for privacy reasons.

You can give a gift to other babies in PNG – the gift of their mother’s life. What greater gift is there?

Donate to the Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies program.