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British photographer Jenny Lewis teamed up with international development charity WaterAid, to take her Hackney One Day Young photography project to rural Malawi for their new Deliver Life appeal.

Lewis spent seven days photographing mothers and their newborn babies on their first day back home. All the women featured gave birth at Simulemba Health Centre. Serving over 70,000 people and delivering around 90 babies a month, this centre sadly cannot be kept clean. They have no running water, only four toilets, crumbling bathrooms and no sterilisation equipment. During her week in Malawi, Lewis witnessed both the euphoria of bringing life into the world and the fear of giving birth and living without clean water.

Every minute a newborn baby dies from infection caused by a lack of safe water and an unclean environment. Without basic water and sanitation, it is impossible for hospitals to provide a hygienic place to give birth leaving mothers and newborn babies highly vulnerable to infections like sepsis. This can be fatal: sepsis accounts for 11% of maternal deaths around the world. In Simulemba Health Centre alone, around 15 cases of maternal sepsis and up to 20 cases of neonatal sepsis are diagnosed every month. This could be prevented with a safe, adequate water supply and good hygiene.

Photographer Jenny Lewis said: “Taking ‘One Day Young’ to Malawi was a world away from my original project in Hackney. Without clean running water, the women I met were giving birth in the toughest conditions I’ve ever seen. Yet what struck me the most was seeing the triumphant victory that every new mother feels, even in this dangerous environment. Strength and joy were as ever present in my photographs here as they had been at home in London. While this series celebrates life, it also highlights the enormous challenges many women face to do the most natural thing in the world - give birth.”

Chris Wainwright, Head of Communications, WaterAid said: “Sadly, for many millions of women around the world, their experience of giving birth can be very different from the UK. WaterAid invited photographer Jenny Lewis to continue her One Day Young project in Malawi, to tell the stories of women who have to give birth without the basic services we take for granted: clean running water, decent toilets and good hygiene. Despite the adversity these new mothers face, their hope still beams out of Jenny’s photos. This winter WaterAid want to Deliver Life and bring safe water to mothers and their families around the world.”

This is a perfect submission to the WAVE category. A shining example of how a personal project was used by a client, using the interest in the project to their own advantage. By creating an extension of the project in Malawi, the plight of women in adverse conditions can be highlighted by the original intent of showing women with dignity and respect for their inner strength very obviously thing through. The images give women platform to have a voice and reach across the world.