Writer: Chris Fok

Around the world, approximately 300,000 mothers lose their lives from complications of pregnancy and childbirth yearly. More than 1 000 000 new-borns don’t survive their day of birth. Especially in developing countries, deplorable conditions in state facilities including sporadic electricity that impaired maternity and surgical care often result in high maternal mortality rate. Without a reliable source of electricity, night-time deliveries were attended in near darkness, cesarean sections were canceled or conducted by flashlight at risk, and critically ill patients waited up to hours or days for life-saving procedures. The results were often tragic.

In view of this, Laura, who has conducted studies in Nigeria on maternal mortality rate and her husband Hal, who is a solar energy educator, co-founded We Care Solar, a charitable body which aims at improving maternal health outcomes in regions without reliable electricity and promotes safe motherhood. The “We Care Solar Suitcase” was first used in the hospitals of Nigeria, then expanded to other developing countries, which succeeds in reducing maternal mortality, saving lots of precious lives.

“We Care Solar Suitcase” is an economical and user-friendly solar electric system that was designed to support timely and efficient emergency obstetric care but can be used in a range of medical and humanitarian settings. Inside the yellow suitcase, it provides health workers with highly efficient medical lighting, power for mobile communication and small medical devices. “We Care Solar Suitcase” supplied over 100 million hours of medical light, over 2 million deliveries take place in Solar Suitcase-powered facilities.

We Care Solar are now targeting five critical countries with high rates of maternal mortality and poor energy access: Liberia, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe and Tanzania. Aim at reaching more than 8000 centers and helping millions of mothers and new-borns.

Story Soure and Image Soure: https://wecaresolar.org/

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