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Nov 9, 2009 6:01 pm US/Central
Minn. Woman Brings Doula Care To Uganda Mothers
EDINA, Minn. (WCCO) ―
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Sarah Longacre helps expectant moms at her Blooma yoga studio in Edina get in touch with their transforming bodies.
CBS
A woman who has helped hundreds of Minnesota mothers give birth is on a new mission to save the lives of women in another country. Her passion is taking her to Uganda, a country with some of the worst maternal health in the world.
Sarah Longacre helps expectant moms at her Blooma yoga studio in Edina get in touch with their transforming bodies.
As a doula, she has helped more than 400 Minnesota moms through labor.
"I'm passionate about it because I know the difference a woman being supported in her birth. That can transform her life forever," Longacre said.
Longacre is teaming up with other doula's from across the country and Canada to bring that transformation to Uganda.
Half of all maternal deaths in the world happen in Africa.
"These women are walking at three in the morning, by themselves, to the nearest hospital," said Longacre. "Once they get there, they don't even have a clean pair of gloves. They are birthing literally on the floor in the hallway on top of each other."
Longacre has set out to raise $20,000 to help build a birth center in Uganda and to train midwives in yoga and how to support mothers before and after birth.
"Just one day at a time ... one birth at a time. It's really time for the Twin Cities to say 'we want to support the whole entire world,'" she said.
Longacre will host a fundraiser on Nov. 13 for the Uganda project at 7:30 p.m. at the Weisman Art Museum.
To know more about other ways to help, visit
Longacre's Web site.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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