I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for the Cigna Foundation, in partnership with Samahope.
I received a promotional item to thank me for my participation.
There is a place in Pawtucket, RI – a magical place. Place where dreams are made and life is created. But not a lot of people know about it. In fact, when I say the name – people often look at me with a crooked eye and say, “what’s that?” The place I’m talking about is Memorial Hospital Of Rhode Island, and I absolutely love it. Here’s why:
I had both of my children at Memorial Hospital. Yup, and I loved every second of it. True – could the decor use a little updating? Yup. Are there fancy schmancy flat screen TV’s in every room? Definitely not.
It’s funny – when I tell people that I had my kids in RI, they just immediately assume that I had them at Women and Infants Hospital. I can’t really blame them per say because that’s the baby factory of Rhode Island. Everyone goes there. Heck, even people from MA go there. It’s HUGE, it’s modern, it has the latest equipment and security measures, jeez they’ll even valet your car.
But I don’t care about those things. A hospital could be stuck in the nineteen sixties with shades of Don Draper smoking cigarettes and drinking whiskey in the corner and I couldn’t care any less.
What matters to me is where Memorial Hospital succeeds the most (and from my experience – better than any other maternity ward in the ENTIRE state of RI): the people.
The Doctors are kind, informed, smart, and extremely personable. I don’t think there are enough superlatives in the English language for how amazing and patient they truly are.
Quick Story: my first birth with Rhys was rough. You can read about it here. Long story short, I was in labor for over 24 hours straight and, Shirley, the angelic and most kind hearted nurse I’ve ever met, who was with me in the beginning, eventually had to leave because her shift was over. But her shift ended in the middle of my labor and she couldn’t bear to leave me. So – she stayed. She stayed until I had the child. More importantly, she blew off dinner with her OWN DAUGHTER (who was also just about to give birth too) just to be with me.
That’s the kind of service and care I received from Memorial Hospital.
This is always why I write about Memorial here. Because more people need to know about how truly special this maternity ward is.
But while I do feel like there this is a never ending battle between Women & Infants and Memorial (that is certainly uphill for Memorial by the way), I know that I am lucky to give birth in the U.S. and have all the amenities I need.
Many moms-to-be or new moms in the U.S. are fortunate enough to have access to the health care they need for themselves and their little one(s) They can feel confident that their medical care, big or small, is done in a safe, clean environment.
Sadly, not everyone in the world is so lucky like us here. The Cigna Foundation has partnered with Samahope to help raise awareness and funds to improve the maternal health and safe childbirth resources provided to women around the world.
Listen – this isn’t sales pitch for The Cigna Foundation or Samahope.
Rather, it’s call to you to make sure that you appreciate your hospitals around you, especially if you are in RI. You have it really good in comparison to other mother’s around the world. WE are lucky.
If you choose to help The Cigna Foundation and Samahope, here is some information:
Samahope is a group of people who finds under-resourced local providers across the globe and connects them to the capital, training and other resources they need to run a proper care facility. In other words, the give people like us the opportunity to directly fund any doctors who can change people’s lives.
Samahope is being supported by The Cinga Foundation. Per their website: The Cigna Foundation was “established in 1962, and carries out our corporate philanthropy goals of bringing Cigna’s mission and brand promise to life for individuals and communities around the globe. This is accomplished through strategically focused charitable grants to nonprofit organizations whose work enhances the health of individuals and families and the well-being of their communities.”
Essentially, The Cigna Foundation chosen to give Samahope the “Cigna Foundation World of Difference” grant and will help them train local nurses and fund doctors in India to provide any treatment and/or surgery their patients may need.
This falls in line with the “10,000 Lives” campaign Samahope has embarked upon with the goal to protect moms and babies in need. They want to be able to helps supply “birth kits” for 5,000 moms and 5,000 babies. Thus, “10,000 Lives.”
The campaign will help prevent the trend of a woman dying every two minutes from preventable causes related to pregnancy and birth.
Of course, Cigna’s grant is a huge step in the right direction – but you can help too if you want.
A $5 donation will cover one birth kit for a mom. (The birth kit includes sterile tools, and a trained birth attendant to help protect a mother and her baby from any life threatening complications during childbirth.)
Talk soon friends,
