A Malian proverb says that a woman in labor has one foot on earth, and one foot in the grave. The proverb is all too true: a woman in Mali has a 1 in 15 lifetime chance of dying from childbearing complications. Many women die because there are no doctors, nurses, or highly trained midwives rural villages. In villages, where most Malians live, auxiliary midwives, or matrones, provide the vast majority of maternal health care. For most Malian women matrones are first and only health care provider they will ever see. Mali Midwives facilitates continuing education for rural matrones in Mali.
