"No child born to die" – this is the headline of Save the Children's campaign this year. You may have noticed it if you received an envelope at your house during Save the Children week in April. Over 8 million children under the age of 5 die every year, and 2.6 million of these are stillborn babies, almost always in developing countries. Stillborn births are a tragedy

faced by thousands of mothers.

            Half of all stillbirths occur in just 5 countries: India, Pakistan, Nigeria, China and Bangladesh – mainly in rural areas, where trained and skilled midwives are scarce. Save the Children is campaigning for 3.5 million more health workers to be educated, to advise and care for women through pregnancy and at birth, to make basic improvements in emergency obstetric care and medical treatment.

            Children in two countries often in the headlines at the moment, Libya and Japan, are receiving care by community support counsellors being trained by our funds, and families are being provided with hygiene kits containing such items as towels, soap and toothbrushes.

            The members of the local branch would like to thank all who contributed during Save the Children Week - and especially thank friends who helped to collect house-to-house: sometimes not an easy task. The total raised during the week is not available at the time of writing - but we can tell you that we raised £652 at our Ceilidh at the Memorial Hall in March - a good time was had by all!

            Much more information on "No child born to die" and on work in progress in more than 120 countries can be found on the website - www.savethechildren.org.uk

We Save the Children - will you?

Gill Freeman.