Saskia Van Besauw
Centre of Perinatal Expertise De Kraamvogel, Belgium
Saskia graduated as a veterinerian in 1995. When she realised that this wasn’t what she wanted to do in her life, she went into research, became a free-lance teacher and went to study midwifery. In 2011, Saskia started working in the Centre of Perinatal Expertise, ‘De Kraamvogel’, to write an application for a grant concerning child poverty. The centre firmly believes that to combat child poverty, there is a need to start during (and preferably before) the pregnancy. They got the grant and started ‘Kansarmoede(r)’: cooperation with the social services of Antwerp through education and a help desk function, the establishment of PANZA (Perinataal Antwerps Netwerk voor Zwangerschap in Antwerpen – Antwerp Perinatal Network for Pregnancy in Poverty), outreaching work for vulnerable pregnant women and the association Origine, postpartum care for undocumented women.