A Model’s Magnum Opus

Monday night in Baltimore, ‘90s supermodel Christy Turlington Burns became spokeswoman for her own cause as she debuted her first documentary,”No Woman, Don’t Cry,” hoping to prevent death during childbirth worldwide.  


The brilliant beauty, currently pursuing her Masters in Public Health at Columbia University, started to passionately advocate for women and maternal health after a personal scare left her vulnerable… and vigilant. 

“I had a complication (hemmoraghing) after delivering my daughter 7 years ago.  She just turned 7 over the weekend, so it was 7 years exactly.  A couple of years later I start traveling to other countries with NGO CARE while pregnant with my second child.  We traveled to a country where I have some history as my mother was born in El Salvador.   All of these pieces started to come together for me about 5 years ago.  I traveled with CARE for a little bit and discovered the maternal mortality rates were so high yet so preventable.  I figured I could contribute in some ways by telling the stories first hand.”


While currently only available to policy and healthcare workers, No Woman, Don’t Cry will be released nationwide on the web on Mother’s Day of next year.


*Marlene Hall contributed to this post.