Every mother counts: Christy Turlington’s cause

While her peers spend their days hurling cell phones and hawking skincare, original supermodel Christy Turlington travels the globe promoting maternal and child health on behalf of her charity Every Mother Counts. The former face of Versace was in Toronto last week to present her first documentary film, No Woman, No Cry at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. “It’s a labour of love. It took me two years to make it,” says Turlington.

Each year, hundreds of thousands of mothers die due to complications in childbirth. Turlington first became involved in this heartbreaking issue after experiencing her own complications during the birth of her child. She had the resources to access proper care, but what about the women around the world who don’t? With that question in mind, Turlington left New York on a mission to improve the lives of mothers everywhere.

Directed by Turlington, No Woman, No Cry outlines the challenges mothers face in Tanzania, Bangladesh, Guatemala and the U.S. Each region has its own barriers to proper maternal health care, be they physical, educational, legal or financial. “It’s a privilege that I’ve been able to travel to remote parts of the world and to hear firsthand and to see and to meet some of these women and to be invited into their homes in these very, very personal and incredibly frightening times,” says Turlington.

Although the personal stories recounted in the film left nary a dry eye in the house, Turlington remains steadfastly optimistic. “I was inspired by hope. Hundreds of thousands of women die every year but almost all of them all preventable. Knowing that is very empowering.”

For more information on what you can do to help, visit everymothercounts.org.

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