Midwives in the Hamilton and Burlington area – including many with strong ties to
McMaster University – will stride together this Mother's Day to raise awareness and
funds in support of maternal health.

More than 500 women and their families, local midwives and community partners are
expected to attend Footsteps for Change, the first reunion and fundraising walk for
maternal health to be held in the city.

Jessica Jones, a fourth-year McMaster midwifery student and co-organizer, says the
motivation behind Footsteps for Change is to act locally but think globally.

“Our intent is to come together and raise awareness and support for maternal and
newborn health issues around the world,” said Jones, who graduates from her program
next month. “We tend to think globally with the issue of maternal health.”

There's good reason for that. Each day, 1,450 women die in childbirth or from
preventable obstetrical complications. Over 90 per cent of these maternal deaths occur
in the developing world.

Footsteps for Change is a local effort to tackle global inequalities in maternal and
newborn health. All funds raised from the event will be donated to Save the Mothers, a
Hamilton-based not-for-profit that trains local professionals from developing countries
to act as agents for change in their communities. Save the Mothers was established by
Jean Chamberlain Froese, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at
McMaster.

The five-kilometre Hamilton walk, which takes place May 8 from 1 to 4 p.m. at
Hamilton's Bayfront Park, is one of a global series of walks that are happening in May
and June. The international effort will culminate in a final 5K into Durban, South Africa,
the site of the 2011 congress of the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM).
Bridget Lynch, a McMaster assistant professor and president of the ICM, issued a
call to action for midwives around the world to come together to “Walk the Road to
Durban.” The global gatherings celebrate International Day of the Midwife (held on May
5, 2011) and raise awareness of the role midwives play in addressing maternal and
newborn health, both locally and globally.

Lynch, Chamberlain Froese and Anne Wilson, a McMaster midwifery alumna and
president of the Canadian Association of Midwives, will speak at Footsteps for Change
in Hamilton.