Why did Mrs X die?

The highly regarded animated film ‘Why Did Mrs X Die? Retold’ tells the story of a global, ‘universal’ woman’s journey through childhood, adolescence, pregnancy and delivery and highlights the reasons why this particular mother and baby died. The woman, Mrs X, could come from any background, although she is likely to live in one of the poorer countries of the world. The film shows the wide variety of health, social, human rights and community barriers she and countless other women may face and how they might be overcome.

The full version of the video is available in the See Also section, and features additional commentary from the ‘father’ of the Safe Motherhood movement, Professor Mahmood Fathalla. He explains why so many women still die “in a 21st Century world” and calls for further action to reduce the continuing tragedy of the unacceptably high number of unnecessary and avoidable maternal deaths.

In the next step we will pull together our learning from a variety of topics covered this week, framing our discussion with the life and experiences of Mrs X.