20 supporters of MADE in Europe's At Our Mothers' Feet campaign celebrated International Women's Day by marching from St. Thomas' Hospital to Parliament – with a box of 800 'footsteps' to symbolise the number of women who die every day in pregnancy and childbirth around the world!

The walk aimed to raise awareness about issue of global maternal mortality, and demonstrate the political steps governments around the world need to take to eradicate needless maternal deaths together. Currently, 800 women die every day in pregnancy and childbirth because they cannot access basic healthcare or education. Over the past few months, the At Our Mothers' Feet campaign collected over 1000 'footsteps' from British Muslims, bearing messages about why they feel maternal healthcare should be a priority issue.

The walk began at St. Thomas' Hospital at 11am ended with a visit to the Department for International Development (DFID), where 20 young Muslims delivered the footsteps to a representative from DFID.

International Women's Day (IWD) is honoured by millions across the globe as a reminder of the struggles women around the world face in their everyday lives. The At Our Mothers' Feet campaign was launched by MADE in Europe on International Women's Day 2011, to raise awareness amongst British Muslim communities about the thousands of women who die every year in pregnancy and childbirth because they cannot access basic healthcare and education. This year's stunt marked the end of an successful campaign which saw MADE in Europe:

• Deliver awareness-raising workshops to approximately 1000 British Muslims
• Secure over 500 campaign actions from British Muslim communities
• Secure pledges from 11 Muslim NGOs to increase their work on maternal healthcare
• Host a maternal health exhibition in the largest mosque in the UK
• Create a documentary and music video with Canadian band The Sounds of Reason to help raise awareness about maternal health
• Create resources such as a Maternal Health Campaign Toolkit for young Muslims, and a training manual for Muslim NGOs looking to expand their maternal health work

Saif Ahmad, CEO of MADE in Europe, said: "Since we started the 'At Our Mothers' Feet' campaign there has been a significant increase in the amount of work being conducted on the topic of maternal health. We wanted to celebrate that success, while reminding our supporters that there is still a great deal of work to be done. Over 250,000 women still die every year from pregnancy and childbirth, and we believe Muslim communities must be at the forefront of the fight to save these mothers' lives."

Over the past 2 years, the At Our Mothers' Feet campaign has toured up and down the country raising awareness about the plight of our mothers in countries like Somalia, Pakistan and Bangladesh during pregnancy and childbirth.

We've had some great campaign successes including nine Muslim charities pledging to increase their work on maternal health.  But there is still more work to be done.

Join us in a stunt for International Women's Day 2013 and help us raise awareness of the 800 women who are still dying every day during pregnancy or childbirth.

What?

We are aiming to collect 800 footprints to visually illustrate the number of women who die every day in pregnancy and childbirth.  Our plan is on 8 March 2013 to lay out the footprints in a pathway from St. Thomas' Hospital on Embankment, to the Houses of Parliament across the Thames, with the theme being "footsteps towards the Millennium Development Goals". Volunteers and supporters will line the route, ready to talk to members of the public about the stunt and the campaign.

Get involved!

• Make a footprint using paper, card, cotton...or any other material you like!
• Write a message on the footprint about why mothers' health is so important to you
• Put your email address on the back so we can contact you
• Send or drop off your footprint to: MADE in Europe, 4th Floor London Muslim Centre, 46 Whitechapel Road, London, E1 1JQ

We'll then contact you nearer the time to come down and join us at the stunt.

Questions?

Get in touch with This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

MADE in Europe have launched a brand new resource as part of the At Our Mothers' Feet campaign. The At Our Mothers' Feet Campaign Toolkit is a ground-breaking resource that aims to equip British Muslims with the skills and information they need to become leaders of their own campaigns on maternal healthcare.

Shadow International Development Minister, Rushanara Ali MP, has praised the efforts of charity MADE in Europe in raising awareness about the 800 women who die every single day in pregnancy and childbirth because they cannot access basic healthcare or education. The Toolkit contains information on the causes and solutions to maternal mortality, outline ways in which Muslim communities can help promote maternal healthcare and overcome any obstacles they face, as well as providing concrete advice on how to plan a maternal healthcare campaign in the UK.

The Toolkit was launched at an event in Central London on Saturday 24th November, where the Shadow Minister for International Development, Rushanara Ali MP, addressed a crowd of 50 British Muslims about the importance of supporting the rights of women around the world to access healthcare and education. The renowned Islamic scholar, Shaykh Mohammad Akram Nadwi also spoke at length about the high status that mothers have in Islam.

The event, entitled Seeking Jannah, brought together supporters and volunteers from the At Our Mothers' Feet campaign, to celebrate the campaign's success so far in reaching thousands of British Muslims and securing pledges from 9 major Muslim charities to increase their work on maternal healthcare.

Rushanara Ali MP, Shadow Minister for International Development said "I was delighted to celebrate the work of MADE in Europe and the At Our Mother's Feet project at an event in the London Muslim Centre. MADE in Europe is working hard to ensure that maternal healthcare is at the top of the agenda and I believe this kind of work is essential to educating girls and empowering women across the world. The campaign to raise awareness about women's maternal rights is a commendable one and I congratulate MADE in Europe on their excellent work."

For copies of the At Our Mothers' Feet campaign toolkit, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

On Saturday 1st December, we'll be coming to Birmingham to launch our brand new and exclusive "At Our Mothers' Feet Campaign Toolkit" - a unique resource to help Muslim communities build their own campaign on maternal healthcare issues. We want to invite all our friends and supporters to join us in this celebration - so please, come along and join us! We will be joined by the renowned Abdel Rahman Mussa. To reserve your space, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

On Saturday 24th December, we'll be launching our brand new and exclusive "At Our Mothers' Feet Campaign Toolkit" - a unique resource to help Muslim communities build their own campaign on maternal healthcare issues.

We want to invite all our friends and supporters to join us in this celebration - so please, come along and join us!

We will be joined by the renowned Shaykh Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwi and the Shadow International Development Minister, Rushanara Ali MP.

To reserve your space, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Al Muntada Trust, a charity which pledged to increase its work on maternal healthcare as a result of the At Our Mothers' Feet campaign, has recently begun training midwives in Ghana.

Al Muntada Trust with its Welsh Partner Life For African Mothers send a team of  midwives to tackle the alarming rates of maternal mortality in the West African country.

Following on from a successful one month long training seminar in Accra last February 2012, which saw more than 120  Ghanaian midwives participating from five hospitals across Accra, the team head back for another round of skills sharing experience this September.

Dr Saeed Gaadi, the Managing Director of the Al Muntada Trust stresses the importance of this project, saying "The mother is an important pillar in the family. The loss of a mother would often result in the downward decline of a family with children being withdrawn from schools being a consequence; this needs not be."

Dr Saeed adds "the needless deaths of mothers can be prevented by improving the skills and knowledge of those entrusted with their lives."

Mrs Marie Choon a retired Midwife and part of the team delivering the training says "the seminars are a skill sharing exercise rather than a one way channel of us just teaching. We learn from them as much as they learn from us."

The project which is supported by the Ghanaian Health Ministry and The Ghana Health Service has received a warm welcome from midwives who have attended the seminars.

Al Muntada Trust which is the lead charity and financier of this project will be expanding it to a further four West African countries who are struggling with maternal mortality rates, namely Benin, Togo, Nigeria and Mali.

According to the UN 1,000 women die each year because of birth related complication and 99% of those deaths are in the developing world.