A woman dies every two minutes due to pregnancy or childbirth. In 2020, almost 95% of these deaths were in low- and lower-middle-income countries and most could have been prevented.
In 2020, about 70% of all maternal deaths were in sub-Saharan Africa, where access to quality health care services and robust supply chains are often lacking. In Nigeria, for example, post-partum hemorrhage is a leading cause of maternal mortality. That’s why access to safe blood transfusions has been identified as a key lifesaving intervention needed during and after childbirth. Yet, the lack of robust supply chains in many sub-Saharan African countries makes the timely delivery of blood difficult.
In 2016, one social entrepreneur set out to change this. Temie Giwa-Tubosun founded the health tech company LifeBank to make sure mothers giving birth in Nigeria — where maternal mortality rates are among the highest in the world — could quickly and safely get access to blood.