_Somewhere in Nigeria, a woman is pregnant and alone. She cannot afford antenatal care. She does not know where to go, or who to call. And without intervention, she may not survive her delivery._

This is not a rare story. Nigeria accounts for more than a quarter of all maternal deaths worldwide. A woman giving birth there faces a 1 in 19 lifetime risk of dying during pregnancy or childbirth. In the United States, that risk is 1 in 4,900. The gap between those two numbers is not fate. It is a failure of access.

MIHEI, the Maternal and Infant Health Equity Initiative, was founded on a simple but urgent belief: a mother's life should never be determined by her zip code, her income, or the road she lives on.

On August 22nd, we are running for her. We are walking for her. We are showing up, because she cannot.

The MIHEI Strides for Mothers 5K brings together runners, walkers, and families at DCR's Chestnut Hill Reservation in Brighton, MA. We believe the Boston community has the compassion to care for women they may never meet, living lives very different from their own, across an ocean away.

Every dollar raised goes directly to two areas:

MATERNAL HEALTH PROGRAMS IN NIGERIA Only 43% of births in Nigeria are assisted by a skilled provider. Only 39% take place in a health facility. We fund antenatal care for women who cannot afford it, train birth attendants in rural communities, and support safe delivery and postpartum recovery, so that more mothers make it home to their families.

INNOVATION IN CARE COORDINATION Often, the greatest barrier is not the absence of care. It is the inability to find it. We are building technology that connects women to the care they need, when they need it most. Better navigation. Smarter referrals. No mother left without guidance.
You do not have to know her name to change her story. You just have to show up on August 22nd.

Every donation, no matter the size, goes directly to funding antenatal care, training birth attendants, and building technology that saves mothers' lives. Together, our strides add up to something transformative.