Christy Turlington: Maternal Health Advocate

When Vogue calls supermodel Christy Turlington a ’super role model’ in the August issue, there’s no doubt that she’s earned the title. Christy is best known for her career as a supermodel but she unfailingly uses her star status to bring positive change to the world.

Christy is currently a graduate student at Columbia University where she’s studying to receive her master’s degree in public health. As a mother of two young children, maternal health has become her focus.  

“Now I’m 40 and getting this degree, I might be on the cusp of the career that I always wanted. Maternal deaths mean there are very serious things going on under the radar about women’s status. There is aid for children, but without mothers, what are their chances of survival? International health-care reform is moving toward the American model, but it’s broken. The United States ranks forty-first in maternal health.”

She now works with the humanitarian organization CARE to deepen her knowledge of maternal health needs. “I didn’t want to be an ambassador; I wanted to go deeper. They said, ‘If you’re interested in maternal health, we’ll educate you.’”

Christy’s currently funding, and helping on-site, with a documentary on mothers in Bangladesh, Tanzania and Guatemala. The documentary, titled No Woman, No Cry, is scheduled for release in 2010 to coincide with the 10^th anniversary of the Millennium Development Goals.  What’s the real benefit of funding the documentary out-of-pocket? “I can talk about things that people in the field are afraid to bring up because their funding is tied to administrations and policy,” Christy tells Vogue.

We’re looking forward to her film and to the candid voice she offers in support of mothers everywhere.