The Safe Motherhood Quilt Project: Offical Page by Ina May Gaskin

The Safe Motherhood Quilt Project: Offical Page by Ina May Gaskin The Safe Motherhood Quilt Project brings awareness to the Maternal Mortality and Morbidty Crisis while amplifying the voices of the voiceless.

The memorial squares are designed to tell a story for each mother and her family and not just another statistic (from Ina May Gaskin) The idea for the Safe Motherhood Quilt Project gestated within me over a period of several years. It was in the early 1990s that I began to be curious about maternal death in my country, after an unusual couple-they were both obstetricians-enrolled for care at the F

arm Midwifery Center, Summertown TN, for their first pregnancy and birth. I learned from them and from a nurse-midwife who wrote a remembrance about a close friend that death was still an occasional possibility for U.S. women during pregnancy, birth and the year after the end of pregnancy. Curious about how many deaths occurred per year and what factors might be causing them, I began looking for information from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). I learned from the officials with whom I talked at both agencies how little they actually know about the continuing problem of preventable maternal death in the U.S. Here is what we do know:

--At least 49 other countries have lower maternal death rates than the U.S.
--There has been no reduction in the maternal death rate in the U.S. since 1982.
--The CDC acknowledges that we have a massive problem of underreporting of maternal deaths in the U.S. and that our reported rate may be only 1/3 to 1/2 of the actual total number.
--Maternal death rates are four times as high in the African-American community as in the Caucasian community.
--There is no federal requirement that the states carry out a confidential review of all maternal deaths in order to be sure that all are counted, to analyze the principle causes of preventable deaths and to make policy recommendations to prevent such deaths in the future. In most countries with lower maternal death rates than ours, maternal deaths are systematically reviewed and there are lower levels of underreporting of such deaths than the CDC says we have in the U.S. My inspiration for the Safe Motherhood Quilt came from the AIDS Quilt. That project taught me how powerful it can be for bereaved family and friends to honor and remember people who died from causes that aren't well understood by the overall society. It is my hope that the Safe Motherhood Quilt Project will be as effective as the AIDS Quilt was in identifying a problem that should have national priority and bringing it to the forefront. Women need better information as they make the important decisions they must make with regard to maternity care. We owe our daughters, our granddaughters and all future generations no less.

Updates: any new memorial squares made should be sent to 143 S Walkers Mill Rd Griffin GA 30223 addressed to: Bellies to...
02/23/2026

Updates: any new memorial squares made should be sent to 143 S Walkers Mill Rd Griffin GA 30223 addressed to: Bellies to Babies Foundation
Please text 404-805-2059 if we should expect one in the mail.

We have volunteers willing to put together new panels and archives of articles and such on the mothers and maternal death are organized into an online cloud. The new website domain that will be redirected to then online information and archives of the quilt is safemotherhoodquilt.org but is still in the works and not up yet.

The new quilts will be state by state so that the state that the mother is from will have a quilt in her state being circulated and displayed to help tell her story, bring awareness, and be a voice for the mothers in that state who no longer have a voice. It’s a work in progress.

Although we have exceptional volunteer quilters, we are also working on funding for materials and being able to cover some of the costs. We are currently in meetings with renowned quilters.

This page is temporarily being used for communications and updates until the website is where it needs to be to publish it.

Thank you.

lack-led, BlackThe Mission of the The Accreditation Commission for Community Midwife Education & Certification, is threefold: (l) to establish standards promoting high-quality competency-based instruction and diverse student recruitment in Direct-Entry community midwifery schools, including ethnic a...

Take a moment of silence to Remember the Mothers. https://www.ethiosports.com/2013/07/18/meskerem-legesse-collapses-dies...
05/04/2025

Take a moment of silence to Remember the Mothers. https://www.ethiosports.com/2013/07/18/meskerem-legesse-collapses-dies/
We will always remember you and continue to amplify the voices of the unheard. We continue to pray for the families who are grieving and caring for the families without their mother. A big shout out to the fathers, grandmothers, and other adults and young adults in these families who are now the caregivers. When we lose mothers we lose communities. They are often the glue to hold it all together.

We are currently working on the memorial squares for specific states so that each State has their Safe Motherhood Quilt panel to circulate moving forward. We have around 40 memorial squares from previous years we have sorted, researched and put stories and data together for. We have domains and an active site almost ready to publish to share about the history of The Safe Motherhood Quilt, the future, and ways to participate and contribute. We also have some special panels coming for some well-traveled midwives who will keep them well circulated and preserved who attend many of the public health and midwife related events and conferences.
Please text 404-805-2059 if interested in volunteering, making a memorial square, quilt making, donating materials or funds for materials and shipping costs, or sending a memorial square you have made in memory of a mother who has died during pregnancy, birth, or postpartum.

An update. We have a new address for the quilt squares:143 s walkers mill rd. Griffin GA 30223 attention Corrinna Edward...
07/17/2024

An update. We have a new address for the quilt squares:
143 s walkers mill rd. Griffin GA 30223 attention
Corrinna Edwards
Safe Motherhood Quilt Project
Bellies to Babies Foundation

We have some master quilters we are interviewing and plans for a 2024 finished panel.

The database is still in the works and the website updates for online viewing but to date here is what has been accomplished:

CDC presentation
Yearly Media channel 2 news connected with a story
On display at maternal health conferences around the country
On the steps of the Capitol yearly
On the cover of a Nursing Text Book that circulates into the nurse midwifery programs/schools and nursing programs
And new and old volunteers making squares

10/29/2022
10/15/2022

New address for mailing memorial squares 143 S Walkers Mill Rd Griffin GA 30223

Please email [email protected] if dimensions are needed or additional information.

Please send squares to 1697 N Expy #306 Griffin, GA 30223Remember her name.
10/08/2019

Please send squares to 1697 N Expy #306 Griffin, GA 30223
Remember her name.

These midwives were gloved up and holding up the panels for everyone to see on Midwife Day at the Capitol with Citizens ...
02/09/2019

These midwives were gloved up and holding up the panels for everyone to see on Midwife Day at the Capitol with Citizens for Community Midwives. Highlighting the disparities in the research and asking for help to improve outcomes. The newest panel from 2016-2017 was displayed across from the Capitol at the Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Legislative Breakfast. March 16th & 17th the panels will be on display at Emory Nell Hodgson Nursing School for the Safe Maternity Conference Continuum. 2018-2019 panel squares have been started. Sponsor your State, gather the information on the mothers in your State and help us share their story. The Safe Motherhood Quilt Project is the voice for those who no longer have a voice.

Address

143 S Walkers Mill Road
Griffin, GA
30223

Telephone

+14048052059

Website

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