A tragedy in one mother’s life has inspired hope and help for high-risk mothers living in Ethiopia.

Laura McBrayer is a mother to five children: four living, and Elizabeth, her deceased daughter born with Trisomy 18, a genetic syndrome that is almost always incompatible with life.

Laura describes her .

“She had every chance available to her on Earth, but her body was just too fragile to sustain life, so in a private hospital room as she was nestled skin to skin in my arm with tears streaming down our faces, her sweet, sweet spirit left her body and peacefully flew into the arms of Jesus.”

Laura and her husband, Brett, have two sons and two adopted children. The experience of losing Elizabeth and her interest in international adoption melted together into the Elsabet Initiative, a program at Hawassa Hope that provides pre- and post-natal care to mothers in Ethiopia. 

In this country, infant mortality rates rank high: 39 deaths for every 1,000 babies born. The mother mortality is troubling, too, with 353 mothers dying for every 100,000 live births .)

Cited another way, in Ethiopia because of birth-related complications, according to 7dnews.com.

Laura wanted to use her tragedy to instead paint a picture of hope, and the Elsabeth Initiative came to life, providing essential health care and support to high-risk moms-to-be.

“This initiative works together with the local medical community to provide support and education during pregnancy and post-delivery for the most vulnerable pregnant women,” it says on Hawassa Hope’s website. “The women in this program are chosen carefully by the local government so that the most vulnerable are given hope for life. Support consists of education and training, monthly food support, hygiene supplies, medication provision, transportation to health centers, midwife/nurse check-ups and post-delivery support.”

Hawassa Hope is one of our Diaper Drop partners and we happily support their efforts to save lives and lift these mothers out of poverty.

About Our Global Efforts: Through a trusted network of community-based partners Jake’s Diapers provides predominantly reusable options to solving hygiene needs worldwide and helping other high-risk mothers. We have a growing list of diaper drops in countries outside the United States.

Make your impact today! A donation of $16 solves diaper need for moms and babies like the ones in our story.