No matter where in the world they live, all moms-to-be want what’s best for their babies: a healthy beginning to a healthy, bright future. But tragically, far too many moms-to-be around the world don’t receive the basic health care they need to ensure a healthy pregnancy, a safe delivery, and a healthy baby.

Wednesday was National Bump Day, a day devoted to raising awareness and redoubling our efforts to meet the urgent need for better maternal health care around the world. Every day, 830 women, almost entirely from developing countries, die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth, and 16,000 children under five years old around the world die of treatable conditions, such as pneumonia and diarrhea. Although the risk of a woman dying in child birth is 47 times higher in Africa than in the United States, maternal death rates in our country have also steadily risen in recent years and are higher than rates in any other developed nation.