{"id":1138,"date":"2015-12-16T10:09:04","date_gmt":"2015-12-16T16:09:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/?p=1138"},"modified":"2015-12-21T10:10:18","modified_gmt":"2015-12-21T16:10:18","slug":"advent-reflection-a-christmas-wish-for-mothers-and-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/advent-reflection-a-christmas-wish-for-mothers-and-children\/","title":{"rendered":"Advent Reflection: A Christmas wish for mothers and children"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"author\">Patricia Kisare, Director for International Policy Advocacy<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"ExternalClass223C15C452F244968BAC1A1883834604\">\n<p>As I reflect on the birth of Jesus during this Advent season, one area of the nativity story I have increasingly become curious about is the health needs of Mary and baby Jesus. From our perspective today, we know that maternal health is intrinsically linked to the well-being of mother and child from pregnancy to birth and all the way to second birthday. It is one of the biggest worries for many expecting parents. As I think about what must have been an exciting but also frightening experience for Mary, I can&#8217;t help but wonder whether Mary had these same worries when she was pregnant with baby Jesus. Did she have care\u2014traditional or otherwise\u2014available to her? My assumption is that even Mary, who was carrying and would give birth to God, must have worried\u00a0 about the health of her baby and that of herself.<\/p>\n<p>As Christians, we all know that the annunciation and birth of Jesus Christ was a miracle. Despite her circumstances, this young and poor mother was able to deliver her baby safely. Perhaps Mary didn&#8217;t necessarily need maternal health care the way most of us would. After all, she was to deliver the Messiah. But for many women around the world, lack of maternal health care can mean death to them and\/or their child.<\/p>\n<p>On one hand, giving birth to a child is a miraculous, wholesome, life-giving occasion. On the other hand, 300,000 women continue to die every year from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. Furthermore, more than 5 million children die each year from preventable causes. Nearly all of these deaths occur in developing countries.<\/p>\n<p>In my work as policy director for international issues, I work with other faith-based partners to bring to Congress&#8217; attention some of these challenges and advocate for policy changes as called for by the wider church. Improving child and maternal health care is one of the issues on which we continue to work\u2014particularly as we reflect on the birth of Jesus. While policy change alone is not a panacea, we can help mend areas and systems throughout the world that we know have hindered progress. It is my prayer and hope this Advent season that soon we will be able to solve the tragedy of maternal and newborn deaths.<\/p>\n<p><em>Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits \u2013<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagle&#8217;s.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>(Psalm 103: 2-5)\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1139\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2015\/12\/Patricia4.jpg\" alt=\"Patricia4\" width=\"521\" height=\"525\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2015\/12\/Patricia4.jpg 521w, https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2015\/12\/Patricia4-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2015\/12\/Patricia4-298x300.jpg 298w, https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2015\/12\/Patricia4-250x252.jpg 250w, https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2015\/12\/Patricia4-347x350.jpg 347w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 521px) 100vw, 521px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>\u200bPatricia serves as Director for International Policy Advocacy in Washington, D.C.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Patricia Kisare, Director for International Policy Advocacy As I reflect on the birth of Jesus during this Advent season, one area of the nativity story I have increasingly become curious about is the health needs of Mary and baby Jesus. From our perspective today, we know that maternal health is intrinsically linked to the well-being [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":210,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1400],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-post"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Advent Reflection: A Christmas wish for mothers and children - ELCA Advocacy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/advocacy\/advent-reflection-a-christmas-wish-for-mothers-and-children\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Advent Reflection: A Christmas wish for mothers and children - ELCA Advocacy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Patricia Kisare, Director for International Policy Advocacy As I reflect on the birth of Jesus during this Advent season, one area of the nativity story I have increasingly become curious about is the health needs of Mary and baby Jesus. 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