This Mother’s Day, Kangu, the innovative philanthropic crowdfunding platform that enables investors to fund life-saving medical services for pregnant women and newborn babies, is launching its 100 Mamas Fund. On the website, backers can contribute to the cost of critical medical services for 100 Mamas in Uganda and Nepal, on behalf of a special mom in their own life. Each investment made on behalf of a mom will generate a personalized Mother’s Day card with a picture of the pregnant mom and her story along with an update on the family after the birth.
Each day, 800 women, nearly 300,000 every year, die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. Nearly 100 percent of these deaths occur in developing countries and the vast majority could be prevented with access to skilled medical care.
Understanding that maternal mortality is directly connected to lack of access to care, Kangu launched in 2013 with an objective of reducing the number of maternal and neonatal deaths and injuries by crowdfunding the medical services required for pregnant women to have a safe pregnancy and childbirth.
Kangu CEO and founder Casey Santiago stated, “Since we launched last year, thousands of people from around theworld have come together on our website, to fund the safe births of hundreds of women in Uganda and Nepal, and to do so in honor of their own mom, wife, sister, or daughter. It validates our deeply-held belief that people want to connect and that there truly is a global village.”
“Kangu is a small organization with a big dream: that every pregnant women has a safe birth,” Ms. Santiago explained. “Kangu makes it possible to see the women, not the statistic, and to then take concrete, transparent and shareable action, for as little as $10.
Kangu is a social enterprise that identifies high-quality hospital and clinics in high-risk areas around the world. These facilities offer life-saving healthcare services to pregnant women and their newborns for an average of $250. This small amount covers the cost of prenatal care, delivery with a trained professional, emergency care, postnatal care, clean supplies, medications to treat infections, newborn immunizations, and when needed, transportation.
