As pro-life efforts flourish in a post-Roe Western world, pregnancy help organizations are thriving in South Africa, where the country’s Pregnancy Help Network served more than 14,000 lives in 2023.
The organization, which connects pro-life community centers and nonprofits in Africa, recently shared the impact made through its affiliates last year. In a newsletter, Executive Director of the South Africa Pregnancy Help Network Danièle Gradwell said that the 14,000 impacted lives “does not represent” the extent to which the network has reached “due to the fact that not all our affiliated organizations consistently submit monthly statistics.”
But even the limited data shows incredible results. According to Gradwell’s update, 14,387 clients were served by affiliates of the Pregnancy Help Network in 2023. Out of that total, 288 chose life instead of abortion, 1,447 received ultrasounds and more than 400 pregnancy support coaches were equipped with necessary supplies.
Additionally, the network’s affiliates gave sexual health classes to nearly 6,000 individuals and provided practical support for 4,154 families. Five new pregnancy help organizations were also started last year.
“We are constantly in touch with affiliated centers to look for ways to further support them as they serve clients each day,” Gradwell told Pregnancy Help News via email. She added that the nonprofit is also continuously “keeping up with the landscape of pregnancy help in Southern Africa and what the clients are needing in terms of life affirming support and care.”
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Gradwell explained that the South Africa Pregnancy Help Network (officially named Africa Cares for Life) has grown significantly since its “early days,” including the expansion of training programs for pregnancy help volunteers.
“One such program is aimed at equipping male volunteers to walk a road with male clients,” she said. “Southern Africa has a severe absent fathers challenge, and this program equips male clients to be a more physically and emotionally present dad in his children’s lives.”
Another training offered by the organization teaches volunteers to “journey with a mom through pregnancy and early days of parenting” by engaging in parenting classes. More recently, the group launched “ultrasound training [that] equips volunteers with the skills to show pregnant clients a window to the womb to promote bonding and attachment.”
One of the organization’s goals is to “ensure that every pregnancy help center has an ultrasound machine” to address the ongoing issue of “very few pregnant women hav[ing] access to private medical care” while pregnant.
The massive number of people served by the Pregnancy Help Network last year follows an organizational record set at the end of 2023, just two and a half years after its launch. As previously reported by Pregnancy Help News, 4,000 women reached out to the Pregnancy Help Network through the nonprofit’s helpline.
Gradwell said at the time that the program, which was reached via Facebook by South African women, is available to help expectant mothers connect with resources they need to manage their pregnancies, including abortion pill reversal doctors.
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According to the organization’s website, the Pregnancy Help Network of South Africa seeks to “support and provide emotional help and practical assistance to families impacted by an unplanned pregnancy and provide a safe place to land.”
Its mission is specifically to “connect, support and advance the network of pregnancy help organizations in South Africa” by gathering and training personnel, conducting marketing and networking strategies, fundraising and starting facilities to achieve the organization’s vision.
Founded in 2000, the South African Pregnancy Help Network has grown to “more than 75 contacts.” The organization serves pregnancy help centers, homes for mothers and adoption agencies. It also provides training for a variety of programs including ministry, client services and leadership development.
