Denmark: Crown Princess Mary pens foreword to maternal health book

NordenBladet – Crown Princess Mary has written the foreword to a book on maternal health in support of the Maternity Foundation, an organisation she has been involved with for over a decade.

It Should Not Cost Life to Give Life was published last fall, but Crown Princess Mary was only able to receive her copy on Tuesday due to the coronavirus pandemic.

She met with organisers Henriette Svarre Nielsen and Anna Frellsen and discussed the book, as well as the work they do to help prevent maternal mortality and infant mortality in developing countries.

“As a mother, I know how important and reassuring it is to have a midwife and other health staff, their knowledge and support by their side during both pregnancy and childbirth. But I am also painfully aware that this is far from reality for women in large parts of the world,” the Crown Princess wrote.

Per the publishers, It Should Not Cost Life to Give Life is the story of how the Maternity Foundation was formed—with “five idealistic women” sitting around a table who wanted to help out.

“Every two minutes around the clock, a woman dies from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. That’s more than 300,000 women a year, over 800 every day. Fortunately, there are some who work for their cause. For the Maternity Foundation, a sharp brain and a warm heart are not opposites of each other, but on the contrary, preconditions of each other. The organization creates digital tools and innovative training methods that the world’s midwives and obstetricians use in their daily lives. The focus is constantly on creating more health for women and children for less money, for the benefit of more and with technology as an aid,” the book’s blurb reads.

For every copy sold, 100 Danish kroner will be donated to the Maternity Foundation.