The images below were taken on July 28th 2010.
WARNING: these images are sad and may be disturbing. They are not for the squeamish.
[slidepress gallery=’bambi’]
This past summer, I was visiting a friend in Montauk and went for a walk east of the trailer park. I discovered more Mother Nature than I needed. Approaching the Mother deer and fawn, I assumed they fell from the bluff above. As I examined them and took some photos, I grew more confused and suspicious of their death. I’m no forensic expert, but I have some experience with maternity health and know things can go very wrong in childbirth. And I know within my own species, every minute, one woman dies from complications during pregnancy, childbirth, or in the first few weeks after giving birth. And that 90% of these deaths are preventable. Since the fawn was still attached to the umbilical cord, my only conclusion is that they fell during the birth. It’s doubtful that a deer would head down to a rocky ocean shore to give birth. However, her torn open stomach remains a mystery. Did the Mother die first leaving the fawn to birth itself? I gifted the Mama fawn with my seahorse creature shape Silly Band, and walked on.
On the walk, I kept debating whether the Mother and fawn died naturally? Were their deaths preventable? I thought, there must be a bullet hole on the other side of the Mother. Although the Mother and fawn most likely died accidentally, I struggled with their death because it reminds me of the grim and disturbing statistics that created Millennium Development Goal #5. The Goal was developed to reduce the maternal mortality ratio by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015. And achieve, by 2015, universal access to reproductive health.
The fawn and Mama deer may have died in Mother Nature, but it’s no accident that 99 per cent of women die from causes related to childbirth in developing countries. Maternal mortality flies below the radar of public attention. Below are some great resources for understanding the maternity health issues and to stay informed. ~NMH

Streamlining the Millennium Development Goals for More Impact

EVERY MOTHER COUNTS

CARE USA

JUST A MINUTE