In 2011, Pastor Yabru Jerry in Papua New Guinea, was asked by a visiting Australian pastor, Michael Bullard, “What are your needs?” He answered, “Our mothers are dying in childbirth. Many men are left widowed and children without their mothers. Please can you send a midwife to give training to our Village Birth Attendants.”

Village Birth Attendants (VBAs) are what Papua New Guineans call “Traditional Birth Attendants.” TBAs exist in developing countries throughout the world, and share the common goal of keeping mothers and babies in their communities alive in childbirth. In some remote areas of Papua New Guinea, there are no formal health and education services, and transport and telecommunications options are very limited. The maternal and newborn mortality rates are among the highest in the world. VBAs step up to provide care for mothers and babies, attend births, and save lives when complications arise. Their knowledge comes from experience – through giving birth themselves, and attending births of others as an ‘apprentice.’ Many VBAs cannot read or write, and have never attended school.

In August 2012, midwife Sara David from Perth, Western Australia, travelled to the remote village of Yamen in East Sepik Province. She listened to the stories of the women and Village Birth Attendants and was deeply moved to make a difference. The vision was born.

In March 2013, with the support of family and friends, Sara founded our organisation - Living Child Inc. Over the past 12 years, Living Child has become a trusted partner of the local health authorities. Sara completed a Masters of Midwifery by research, was made a Member of the Order of Australia, and created a framework for the training of Village Birth Attendants, which can be used all over the world.

Mrs. David said:

“Early on, I heard of a quote by Mother Teresa, which was that if you look at the masses, you won’t do anything, but if you look at the one, then you’ll make a start. I think that sort of encapsulates what we’ve tried to do, especially in these formative years, because many, many times we’ve just felt completely overwhelmed by the needs. But when I look back, and I just see how things have progressed, it’s like Living Child has had this life of its own. It hasn’t depended on me, it’s had a life of its own, and the momentum has been caused by the people on the ground.”

Maternal health is at the heart of what we do. We currently facilitate a variety of projects in Papua New Guinea, including: running training for VBAs based on Sara’s framework, distributing clean birth kits to rural/remote health facilities, supplying water tanks, tippy taps and menstrual hygiene kits, educating remote communities on handwashing, nutrition and breastfeeding through the Care Groups model of health education, and recording a health promotion radio show called “Helti Femeli.”