Early on Thursday morning, Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom announced the arrival of their first child together, Daisy Dove Bloom via UNICEF‘s instagram — which decidedly beats your family’s newsletter, I’m sorry — sharing their joy at bringing a happy and healthy baby into the world. However, they took the time and space and media hoopla that a double celebrity baby typical warrants to make sure that the public realizes how lucky they are — and that many other parents and babies aren’t afforded the same privileges and access to care (particularly in a global pandemic).
“We are floating with love and wonder from the safe and healthy arrival of our daughter,” Katy and Orlando told UNICEF for the post. “But we know we’re the lucky ones and not everyone can have a birthing experience as peaceful as ours was. Communities around the world are still experiencing a shortage of healthcare workers and every eleven seconds a pregnant woman or newborn dies, mostly from preventable causes. Since COVID-19 many more newborn lives are at risk because of the increased lack of access to water, soap, vaccines and medicines that prevent diseases. As parents to a newborn, this breaks our hearts, as we empathize with struggling parents now more than ever.”
In the United States alone Black mothers and WOC are more likely to experience traumatic births than white mothers and Black babies are at a higher risk of death as newborns (particularly when in the care of white doctors) and, globally, mothers in low income countries are 120 more likely to die from “maternal-related cause” during her lifetime, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) than those in high-income countries. So the nature of inequality and lack of access to preventative healthcare, prenatal and postpartum care and resources is absolutely a pressing threat to parents and their children around the world.
The couple, as UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors, set up an appeal for donations in honor of their daughter — dubbed DDB — encouraging the public to give what they can to support the organization on the ground “doing whatever it takes to make sure every expecting mother has access to a trained health worker and access to quality healthcare.”
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The couple says the call for donations is “in celebration of the heart we know our daughter already has” and adds that supporting UNICEF during this high-attention moment means “supporting a safe start to life and reimagining a healthier world for every child.” (I’m not crying, you’re crying.)
In addition to UNICEF, there are a number of awesome charities and non-profits doing this important work of supporting equal access to high quality care and supporting mothers in communities that are most often neglected. If you’re feeling generous of spirit and heavy of wallet, we totally recommend giving what you can (or setting up a recurring donation — it’s like a little bill that actually feels good!) to a few of the following: Every Mother Counts, The National Birth Equity Collaborative (NBEC), The National Partnership for Women & Families, Black Mamas Matter Alliance (BMMA) (), Postpartum Support International and The National Diaper Bank Network.
A new little one making a healthy and triumphant debut is absolutely a gift — so good on the Perry-Bloom clan for paying it forward.
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