Projects & Events | Women's Action Initiative

Women’s Pelvic Health Awareness: Share MayFlowers 2013

A Little Flower Goes a Long Way
Help spread the word with colorful, cornhusk flower accessories—handmade by female artisans in Honduras. Share them (with friends, family, colleagues…), wear them (hair, blouse, jacket…) and contact us if you or your organization would like to get involved! All flower sales and SMF-specific donations to WAI go directly to developing this campaign to change and expand awareness and dialogue regarding female pelvic and perinatal health.

What is Share MayFlowers?
Share MayFlowers is a public health and awareness campaign focused primarily on the under-discussed topics of female pelvic and perinatal health. Us the Add to Cart button above or click here to pay online with your visa or mastercard. By adopting the imagery of a flower, being active online and in our communities, and by fostering relationships with likeminded organizations, Share MayFlowers sets apart the month of May to pointedly address issues of female pelvic and perinatal health and keeps that conversation going throughout the year.

If you don’t know what pelvic and perinatal issues include, then that is exactly why the campaign was started! If you do know what we’re talking about (whether you’ve experienced them personally or address them in your organization), you are the inspiration for this campaign and can keep these vital conversations going, educating everyone that common women’s health problems such as bladder, bowel and pregnancy-related physical issues are perfectly treatable!

Join the MovementTwitter: @sharemayflowers Facebook: facebook.com/sharemayflowers Blog: www.sharemayflowers.wordpress.com

Photo Credit: Loran Hollander

Global Projects: Democratic Republic of Congo

The Problem: Imagine if you or someone you loved was in labor for seven days, had baby die in the womb during birth, and plagued with fecal and urinary incontinence as a result? Millions of women are suffering this fate and living with unrepaired obstetric fistula in the Democratic Republic of Congo and throughout the developing world. An obstetric fistula occurs between the vagina and bladder, the vagina and rectum, or both, causing leakage between the tissue and results in incontinence (the inability to control the flow of either urine or feces). Either a small pelvis or malpositioning of the baby within the uterus can predispose a woman to obstetric fistula if adequate medical care during her labor is not available. Women with fistula are often ridiculed for smelling of urine and feces, are abandoned by their families and husbands, must grieve the death of the baby lost in childbirth and are doing so without means to provide necessary housing and food for themselves and any surviving children for whom they are responsible. But you can help change their lives.

The Solution: Help us reach our $50,000 goal to send our WAI team of three women’s health physical therapists with extensive experience in the region and a top-notch urogyn surgeon back to Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo to continue work treating and rehabilitating women and also train local care providers, enabling them with the skills and tools to continue the vital initiative. During the trip, WAI will also be developing two easily sharable educational videos regarding fistula and fistula rehabilitation that will be used to educate hospital-based and rural healthcare and social service providers in Africa. The videos will be another tool in our sustainable training program–one that can be easily implemented to help women with fistula elsewhere throughout the developing world. Completed videos will also be submitted to relevant US-based and international medical conferences in order to increase awareness of fistula care and prevalence. We are currently seeking Grants, Corporate Funding and individual donations. Please contact jessica@sharemayflowers.org to arrange a partnership or donate what you can here.