UPDATE: We made it!! Knowing how much sponsorship we had made really helped keep us going over those last couple of hundred metres when our legs felt like lead so THANK YOU ALL so much.  We had an amazing time that we won't forget and are really happy to have raised money for this cause in Joseph's memory xx

On 13th March 2014 our unborn son Joseph sadly died.  I had been admitted 5 weeks earlier with pre-eclampsia but Joseph had been doing well and nobody had expected this.  In an incredibly difficult time we received the best possible care from Southmead Hospital in Bristol.  Five days later Joseph was born and it goes without saying in the NHS that I received all the care I needed in labour to prevent a dangerous eclamptic fit in the face of my deteriorating blood pressure.

When my sister suggested the trip to Africa for the Kilimanjaro trek it got us thinking about raising money for charity.  We are well aware that the accident of being born in the UK  and Ireland in the 1970's has placed us in a very the privileged position with regards healthcare.  We are also incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to trek in this beautiful country as we love walking (our photo shows us getting in some practise on Carruntoohil in Ireland in August!) 

Raising money for the PROMPT Maternity foundation allows us to acknowledge this.  A recent review estimated that 13770 maternal lives could have been saved in sub-Saharan Africa in 2012 alone if they had access to the best care for pre-eclampsia and eclampsia as we have in the NHS. That's thirteen thousand, seven hundred and seventy women who could have been saved if they had received the care I did.  I may well have died if I had lived elsewhere.

The PROMPT Maternity Foundation (PMF) is a multi-professional group of obstetricians, midwives and anaesthetists who are all employed within the NHS at hospitals in the South West of England. The aim of the charity is to reduce preventable harm to mothers and their babies by improving awareness and facilitating the distribution of effective obstetric emergencies training to areas of the world seeking access to an economical and sustainable training model.

We really hope that in Joseph's name and with your help we can contribute to the work of the PROMPT Maternity Foundation in the hope that all women can receive the standard of care that the wonderful NHS provides. 

Thank you so much for anything you can give this New Year.

Jo and Lloyd

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