Safe Pregnancy Advocate Named CNN Hero of the Year
Midwife Lim wins CNN's 2011 Hero of the Year for her work helping Indonesia's mothers and babies.
A midwife who works with underserved Indonesian women to provide healthy pregnancy and birth services was named CNN’s Hero of the Year last night.
American Robin Lim, known as “Mother Robin”, open Yayasan Bumi Sehat in 1995. The clinic is a non-profit, village-based organization that runs two free community health centers in Bali and Aceh, Indonesia. They provide more than 17,000 health consultations for both children and adults per year, and bring more than 600 new babies into the world each year.
CNN reports that, “In Indonesia, the average family earns the equivalent of $8 a day, according to the International Monetary Fund. But a baby delivery costs about $70 at a hospital, and a Caesarian section can cost as much as $700. Lim believes Indonesia’s high maternal and infant mortality rates are caused in part by these costs, which many women cannot meet.” Her clinic steps in to help those who would otherwise be on their own.
Lim only became a midwife after her sister, and the baby, died in childbirth. As CNN’s Hero of the Year, she will receive $250,000 for her cause.
Photo credit: Jakarta Post
Yay!! Well deserved.
I agree, she is deserving of such an honor!