What Mitera Stands For

"As we become mothers, our capacity for love grows, as does our

commitment to improving maternal and newborn health. " 

Mitera means ‘Mother’ in Greek.  As a mother, the love you feel for your child is immeasurable.  It rips your heart apart to even imagine something bad happening to your child.  It is also unimaginable that you might lose your life while pregnant or giving birth.  While those of us living in developed countries such as the United States enjoy and perhaps take for granted all the technologies, services and resources available to us, the rest of the world is not so fortunate.  

DID YOU KNOW?

Each year around the world, 

• 1 million babies die the same day they are born
• 3 million babies would not survive their first months of life and 2.6 millions are stillborn
• Approximately 45% of all childhood deaths under 5 years occur during their first months of life
• Approximately 290,000 mothers die from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth
• 90% of all these deaths occur in the developing countries
• Most of these deaths are preventable through access to simple medical interventions

The another hard truth is that the median world income is around $3-4 a day. 

• 1.4 billion people in developing countries live on $1.25 a day or less.
• 4 billion survive on just under $4 a day. 

Sources: WHO on Infant Mortality, Neonatal Mortality, Maternal Mortality

When I became a mother, I felt that my capacity to love grew and the issues of maternal and child health became even more personal.  No matter who you are, pregnancy and childbirth are life-changing events and the journey of motherhood opens our eyes and hearts to new experiences, perspectives and deeper understanding and appreciation of life.  With our newly found understanding and appreciation for life comes compassion - compassion, especially for our fellow moms and their babies. Christy Thurlington Burns, for example, a former supermodel, founded Every Mother Counts, an organization dedicated to improving maternal health based on her own experience of postpartum hemorrhage after the birth of her first baby.  

Too many mothers and babies are losing their lives senselessly just because they are born in different countries under different circumstances.  I am committed to changing that as a mother, as a business owner and as a human being. 

Thank you for joining our journey.  In our next post, I will talk about our giving program and our partnership with D-Rev. 

Founder of Mitera, Yoko Shimada is a wife, mother of two children (4 and 2) and global public health expert who still makes the time to be a triathlete (half ironman finisher!), wine lover, experimental chef, avid traveler, voracious reader, and a student of photography. A designer with an innovative vision, she wants to make moms feel confident, empowered, stylish and chic.