Cronulla Midwife Maryanne Ayres is holding a fundraising night at Wanda SLSC on June 28 to raise much needed funds for the three maternity hospitals in North Africa set up by Dr Andrew Browning.
Maryanne met Dr Browning, while working as a midwife at Sutherland hospital in 2001, he was an obstetric registrar there at the time and he also trained at St George Hospital.
Dr Browning has spent the past 17 years in Ethiopia and Tanzania, originally doing fistula repair with Dr Catherine Hamlin in Ethiopia. He then set up the Barbara May Foundation in 2009, and has since been instrumental in building three maternity hospitals to provide safe, free access to maternity care and therefore reducing the number of horrendous birth injuries, mothers and babies dying in labour for want of care that we here are so fortunate to have.
Maryanne a director of his foundation said she has been holding fundraising events for this cause since 2001, but since changing her venues she needs to promote the event to help fill a bigger room.
"Locals have helped raise $100,000 from past fundraisers which is a third of the cost of their newest hospital-so we can and have made a difference" Maryanne said
"We take childbirth for granted here, it's not like that everywhere, we might lose one mother a year,In North Africa it can be one in twelve loses their life.
"They have no back up in an emergency and 90 per cent of mothers give birth at home."
Dr Browning AM was awarded an Order of Australia medal this year in the Australia Day honours list and he also consults on global maternal healthcare issues to the United Nations.
He will be the speaker on the night.
Tickets are $80 with champagne on arrival and gourmet finger food and there is live entertainment by Elyse McLennan and Kevin Whitely-tickets can be purchased at www.trybooking.com/BCLLA or through Maryanne Ayres 0424 440 771.
