Making Life: A Risky Proposition

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Tonight on ABC’s 20/20, Diane Sawyer and a team of correspondents will explore the state maternal health in Afghanistan, Sierra Leone and Bangladesh:

“There is so much we can do together – so many simple ways for us all to link arms to help every mother and child have a chance to lead a healthy life,” said Diane Sawyer, who was shocked by the slow pace of medical progress in the many years she has reported on women in Afghanistan. We talk to people who are dedicated to saving women’s lives: midwives and doctors in the field; New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, and Christy Turlington Burns, model turned activist after she herself experienced hemorrhaging in childbirth. We also follow a young pregnant obstetrician who has volunteered for maternal health programs around the world, for an American doctor’s perspective on the crisis in Sierra Leone. The special also includes a report by Deborah Roberts from Bangladesh, a country which has seen a dramatic improvement in health outcomes for pregnant women in part as a result of the introduction of cell phone technology. Dr. Richard Besser reports from Mexico on the dramatic impact that family planning has had on improving the lives of women and their children.

The hour-long special will be available on ABC’s website after it airs tonight.