HOPE Foundation for Women & Children of Bangladesh was established in 1999 in Florida, USA as a registered charitable organization and became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in 2004. HOPE Foundation was established by Dr. Iftikher Mahmood, a Bangladeshi-American Pediatrician. The organization’s mission is to provide health services and urgent medical care to the poor and needy of Bangladesh, in particular, the most neglected citizens: women and children in rural areas.
HOPE Foundation established and operates 2 x 50-beds hospitals with labor and delivery units and 15 rural birth centers in remote areas. The Birth Centers were established in nearby villages to better serve those who cannot afford to travel to the hospital for varying reasons, as well as refer patients with more complicated and severe cases to the hospital where they can receive the appropriate treatment.
One of the hospitals is situated inside the Rohingya Settlements in Cox's Bazar. Responding to the influx of the Rohingya refugees in 2017, the organization’s work grew into what is today the HOPE Field Hospital for Women, the first Bangladeshi-run field hospital and the only hospital to provide 24/7 specialized care for women, such as emergency obstetric care. Women make up the largest portion of refugees in the camp. 9 Sexual and Reproductive Health Centers have been opened across the camps.
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Hope Foundation for Bangladesh
HOPE is also working to complete construction on what will be the 6-floor HOPE Maternity and Fistula Hospital, a 75-bed facility for fistula, maternity and newborn patients. Once completed, it will be the only free-standing fistula care center in Bangladesh.
HOPE Foundation’s Programs and Partners in Addition to Global Force for Healing
1. Obstetric Fistula Program. This work is funded by the Fistula Foundation (USA). This program includes community outreach and education, free fistula repair surgery, physical therapy, social rehabilitation and reintegration, nutrition counseling, and postoperative follow-up care. Direct Relief (USA) also supports this work through medical and surgical supplies.
2. Safe Pregnancy Care. Safe pregnancy care includes antenatal care (ANC), delivery for at-risk patients and post-natal care (PNC) for 1,500 women; funded by Every Mother Counts, USA.
3. Midwifery Diploma Program. A three-year program that has graduated over 70 students to date, with three subsequent classes currently being trained. This project is funded by the UK Department for International Development, in partnership with BRAC University. It is calculated that through their 30-year career span, these and other midwives trained in Bangladesh will collectively drive down maternal mortality from 194 to 35/100,000 and infant mortality from 52 to 12/1,000. It is estimated that they will save 36,178 lives. Funded by DFID (UK Department for International Development).
4. Birth Centers. Midwives graduating from the Diploma Program operate in rural areas to provide critical maternal health care. Funded by the Islamic Development Bank.
For more information or to contribute to Hope’s maternity/fistula hospital building fund or healthcare services to the Rohingya refugee community: www.hopeforbangladesh.org.
Founder and President: Dr. Iftiker Mahmood