This article was contributed in support of WaterAid, and was first published here.
What does it mean to be a midwife around the world – and what difference does it make having access to clean, safe water?
A new interactive film, Parallel Lives, gives you the chance to find out.
With the click of a button, you can move between two very different worlds, and experience what life is like for midwives Juliana Msoffe in rural Tanzania and One Born Every Minute’s Delia Jepson in the UK.
"Clean water is the most important thing midwives need to make sure mothers and babies are safe." – Delia Jepson
The dual-narrative film gives an insight into two parallel worlds, and highlights the shocking fact that 42% of healthcare facilities in Africa don’t have access to safe water.
The footage was filmed in Kiomboi hospital in Tanzania and Liverpool Women’s Hospital in the UK – the busiest maternity ward in Europe, which was featured in the latest season of Channel 4’s popular TV programme, One Born Every Minute.
The film has been launched as part of our biggest ever appeal, Deliver Life, which aims to get safe water to 130,000 mums and their families this winter.
Conditions that are worlds apart:
“By creating an interactive documentary experience, we hope to grab the attention of British viewers, and encourage them to relate to the situation so many midwives and mothers face around the world,” says Catherine Feltham, the film’s producer at WaterAid.
As you click between the different hospitals, it becomes apparent that the conditions are worlds apart.
One of the scenes that affects me most is how easy it is for people to get a drink of water or a cup of tea in the UK, compared with family members collecting water for women to wash in and drink at a nearby river in Tanzania.
By sharing the conditions other mums and midwives have to deal with, we hope to motivate the British public to donate to our Deliver Life appeal and help us raise awareness of this situation.”
Watch the film:
The views expressed here are not necessarily those of each of the partners of Global Citizen.