Where Have All the Mothers Gone?

Book excerpt: All over the world, even as you read this, mothers in poor countries struggle to deliver their babies without lifesaving medical care. This is, perhaps, the last unreached frontier of modern medicine. Walk with Dr. Jean Chamberlain Froese as she extends a hand of compassion and professional care to mothers in desperate danger. "In these days of high-tech medicine, it is refreshing that a doctor writes, first-hand, so passionately about people and their real lives. These moving stories should serve as a call for action by all who care." Professor Mahmoud F. Fathalla Past-President of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics "Reading Dr. Chamberlain Froese's vignettes, I was moved to tears and anger and prayer for the women who live in such poverty of health care. She has captured the pathos, hope and despair of women who have so little of what we see as essential health care during pregnancy and delivery. I believe this book has a vital message that will open new dimensions in understanding and compassion." Becky Davey, RN, BS, MN, International Consultant for Medical and Educational Advance "The medicalization of health care in the West has lead to a 'laissez faire' attitude towards childbirth. Blending experience with passion, Dr. Chamberlain Froese confronts and dispels conventional thinking by unveiling the tragic realities of pregnancy-related complications. Reading this book makes you uncomfortable; and it should. It unfolds the plight of those who daily live on the fulcrum of life.or death." Dr. John D. Hull President, EQUIP International Atlanta, Georgia Dr. Jean Chamberlain Froese is a Canadian obstetrician/gynaecologist whose work has taken her to some of the many neglected mothers in the developing world: in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, Ecuador, and most recently, Yemen and Uganda. When in Canada, she is based in Hamilton, Ontario, where she is an assistant professor at McMaster University and executive director of Save the Mothers. She is happily married to Thomas Froese, a freelance journalist. They have two children, Elizabeth and Jonathan.