Reaching the unreached and helping to reduce infant mortality in Bangladesh.

Bilkis Begum, aged 44, is a housewife and community birth attendant who provides voluntary midwifery services to the poor and deprived women in her community.

Bilkis comes from a long line of midwives in her family – when growing up she always dreamed of becoming a midwife, just like her mother and two elder sisters. She wanted to learn how to take care of the women and children in her village; but, with the exception of some traditional midwifery practices, she did not have any sound technical knowledge about safe delivery or pre and post natal care.

In 2010, Bilkis received an opportunity to expand her knowledge and skills in maternal and child health by attending a three day training course on safe delivery and newborn care, organised by World Vision. Last year, she also received another three days of additional training for traditional birth attendants (TBAs.)

Bilkis now knows how to handle the potential complications that mothers can face during pregnancy and delivery. She also learned clinical skills, including how to perform an antenatal exam, proper hand washing, five warning signs of risky deliveries, how to manage critical circumstances, and pre and post natal care for mothers and their babies.

With World Vision’s help Bilkis is helping close the gap on global poverty.