Project

Mothers of Ethiopia

Hanna Ingber Win, the Huffington Post's World Editor, was recently invited by the UN Population Fund to visit its maternal health programs in Ethiopia, which has one of the world's worst health care systems. In the U.S., a woman has a 1 in 4,800 chance of dying from complications due to pregnancy or childbirth in her lifetime. In Ethiopia, a woman has a 1 in 27 chance of dying. Hanna shares her experiences and observations in a five-part series on Mothers Of Ethiopia.

Part 1 traces one woman's journey to find a doctor in rural Ethiopia.

Part 2 explores the fate of girls who flee child marriage.

Part 3 addresses pregnancy complications that go under-treated in Ethiopia.

Part 4 finds that health extension workers are a "quick–but only slightly effective–fix" to the lack of health care in Ethiopia.

Part 5 provides further insight into potential solutions to Ethiopia's shortage of doctors.

This project was produced by The Huffington Post.

Mothers Of Ethiopia Part I: Zemzem’s Journey

JIMMA, Ethiopia — When Zemzem Moustafa went into labor with her fifth child - at age 30 - she could sense a problem. Living in a thatched-roof hut in Ilebabo, a rural village in western Ethiopia, she and her husband walked to the local health post. A health extension worker there could tell that the baby was in the wrong position, but the worker could not help Zemzem and referred her to the hospital. And so Zemzem's journey began, one that ends in tragedy for thousands of women in Ethiopia each year.