Robin Lim, an American woman who has helped thousands of poor Indonesian women have a healthy pregnancy and birth, was named the 2011 CNN Hero of the Year on Sunday night.Read the rest here.
Through her Yayasan Bumi Sehat health clinics, "Mother Robin," or "Ibu Robin" as she is called by the locals, offers free prenatal care, birthing services and medical aid in Indonesia, where many families cannot afford care.
"Every baby's first breath on Earth could be one of peace and love. Every mother should be healthy and strong. Every birth could be safe and loving. But our world is not there yet," Lim said during "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute," which took place at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles and recognized Lim and the other top 10 CNN Heroes of 2011....
[Christy] Turlington Burns introduced Lim's video tribute during Sunday's show, before the Hero of the Year announcement. As founder of Every Mother Counts, she is also a passionate advocate for maternal health around the world.
"Eight years ago, after giving birth to my first child Grace, I felt what could have been a life-threatening complication," she told the audience of nearly 5,000. "It suddenly got very scary, very fast. If I hadn't received the expert care in the hospital birthing center I was in, then I may have not been so fortunate.
"My wish is that every mother all over the world has the same chance surviving childbirth I had. My friend Robin Lim shares that wish and she spends her days and nights making it so."
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Monday, December 12, 2011
Robin Lim named CNN Hero of the Year
Robin Lim, a midwife in Indonesia, was just named the CNN Hero of the Year! She was well-known among many midwives in Iowa (where I did my PhD work), where she practiced before moving to Bali. Here are some excerpts:
I think it is AWESOME that a midwife is getting this kind of national attention...I didn't really think the comments from Mrs. Burns were that helpful to the idea of normal birth though. I totally get that in many countries there is little to no birth care for women, hence the wonderful work Robin does in Bali. I just wish the introduction had focused on that, since the work Robin does is not about "expert care in the hospital", it is about community outreach and community midwifery (which we also need more of in this country).
ReplyDeleteI blubbed so hard watching her receive that award. Such basic medical care and knowledge save so many women giving birth in poor countries.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theparentingspace.com/products/guerrilla-midwife/
ReplyDeleteThere is a documentary about her called Guerrilla Midwife. You can rent it to stream on your computer. I just found it today and I am going to watch it tonight, so I can't comment on how good it is, but I figured I would let this community know about it.
Beautiful, just beautiful! Love the work she is doing, especially in a country that doesn't value womens lives!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this! i went to read about this amazing Robin Lim! WAW!!! her blog and website are inspiring: http://robinlimsupport.info/ and http://blog.bumisehatinternational.org/
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