Through our Health and Wellness Program, The BO Foundation has begun collecting funds for our mission to lower the infant and maternal mortality rates in Burkina Faso - an initiative we hope to bring to other countries also affected by high instances of infant and maternal mortality in the future.
While the numbers vary by source - UNICEF reports the infant mortality rate in Burkina Faso to be 53 deaths per 1,000 live births, with another 26 children under 28 days old dying per 1,000 live births, and the CIA World Factbook lists the infant mortality rate at 72 deaths per 1,000 live births - one thing is clear: Burkina Faso has among the highest infant mortality rates in the world. The same issues that cause high infant mortality - lack of access to quality medical care, lack of early detection equipment, lack of vital signs monitoring equipment for the unborn child and the mother, etc. - cause the high maternal mortality which is, again, among the highest in the world.
According to a recent study, the introduction of doppler ultrasound technology can lead to a reduction in fetal deaths by 30%-35%¹. Fetal doppler ultrasound allows for early detection of fetal heartrate irregularities that may lead to early intervention, and procedures like caesarean section deliveries. It is our goal to distribute one handheld pocket fetal doppler to every village in Burkina Faso, beginning with Boussouma Commune, which is home to over 120 villages. We hope that the success of this program will inspire donors to aid us in spreading our program to the rest of Burkina Faso, and eventually to other countries in the top ten with regard to their infant and maternal mortality rates. Please follow the link below to our GoFundMe campaign, and remember your donation may be 100% tax deductible. Please share our video with your friends and family, and feel free to contact us with questions regarding the status of our program, and reports.
1 - Jostein Grytten, Irene Skau, Anne Eskild, Does the use of Doppler ultrasound reduce fetal mortality? A population study of all deliveries in Norway 1990–2014, International Journal of Epidemiology, Volume 50, Issue 6, December 2021, Pages 2038–2047, https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyab098
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