When having a baby can kill you - Thoughts on the International Women's Day

I was reading this (from here), and I again realized that a fluke of birth country saved my life.

So, our son was born 15 weeks premature - when I was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia. If you look at the stats, a woman dies of pre-eclampsia every 6 minutes. Yet, when we look at how often a woman in the US or Canada dies, we see only several hundred. I was automatically given magnesium sulfate, a drug that prevents the deaths associated with maternal convulsions. In Europe and North America, you get pre-eclampsia, you get magnesium sulfate. In Afghanistan or Iraq? You die. From pregnancy. From a life threatening condition, that we can treat. Magnesium Sulfate saves lives. In the year 2008, where we have a pill for men who can't get it up anymore, women die of being pregnant. And they don't have to.

Were you wanting a reason to write your MP? How about encouraging them to spend more than 0.3% Of Canada's GDP on assistance to developing nations. 'Cause pregnancy, it shouldn't kill you.