President Obama has made maternal health one of the core priorities of U.S. international aid funding.

I can contribute, be valuable and grow in many ways, since my interests are so varied. That is very satisfying.

Miriam Were has made outstanding contributions to public health in the developing world. She brings basic medical services to women and children in East Africa.

We should work to guarantee that there is a midwife or health worker by every woman's side during childbirth.

It's always a tricky thing, trying to make aid sustainable.

There's a saying in Africa: To find out you are pregnant is to have one foot in the grave.

No other health disparity is so stark; virtually every woman who dies giving birth lives in a poor country.