Tara Hansen FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — Ryan Hansen is working diligently to try to help prevent another child from losing his or her mother just as his son, Brandon Ryan, did 18 months ago.
Hansen, of Freehold Township, lost his wife, Tara, 29, to complications of childbirth on March 31, 2011, six days after she gave birth to Brandon. Tara was a respected special education teacher at the West Freehold School, Freehold Township, for nearly six years.
Hansen said that in the wake of his wife’s death he created the Tara Hansen Foundation, which is dedicated to increasing maternal health awareness in an effort to improve maternal health care.
A fundraiser, “Octoberfest, An Event to Prevent,” will be held from 1-6 p.m. Oct. 20 at Dive! in Sea Bright to honor Tara’s life and memory and to raise awareness of the issue that deeply concerns Hansen.
The wine and beer tasting event with a silent auction will raise funds to go toward the creation of a maternal inter-professional continuing education conference at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick.
The auction will include prizes such as a social membership at Bella Vista Country Club, Marlboro, that includes six rounds of golf and access to all of the club’s facilities; an authentic Derek Jeter jersey donated by the New York Yankees; a New York Islanders jersey signed by the team, donated by the New York Islanders; four tickets to the Rutgers vs. Army football game, donated by Rutgers University; and several pieces of jewelry from Diana-Labelle Jewelry, and John’s Jewelers, both in the Woodbridge Jewelry Exchange.
“The community has been amazing and incredibly generous to us,” Hansen said. “So many people have been willing to help us in any way possible.”
The restaurant Dive! is owned by Hansen’s friends Steven Graniero and Christina DiIorio, and Hansen expressed his thanks for their generosity in allowing the foundation to use the restaurant for the event.
“I never anticipated that Tara could die from childbirth,” Hansen said. “My goal through education and advocacy is to increase awareness about maternal mortality in the United States and help prevent another child from losing his or her mother. Our goal is to eliminate these tragedies. It is believed that over 90 percent of maternal deaths can be avoided. No one should lose their life bringing a new life into the world”
In his research, which Hansen said was derived from sources, including Amnesty International, the Centers for Disease Control, and UN.org, among others, the young father said statistics show that 49 countries have lower maternal mortality rates than the United States, and that “globally, a woman dies every 90 seconds from pregnancy or childbirth.”
Hansen explained how the concept of a maternal nursing conference came to be.
“We realized that nurses deal with new mothers more than anyone else,” he said. “We felt that since they have so much access to new mothers, there is a great opportunity to educate them about the risks in the first 24 to 48 hours post-partum.”
Hansen spoke with committee members comprised of physicians and nurses at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, going to them originally because of the medical school’s reputation as an academic health center with the idea of raising funds to train a nurse to go to a maternal care conference and bring the knowledge back to the facility and train others.
He said nursing officials told him they could work with a much broader plan and create an inter-professional continuing education conference that many different health care providers could attend.
A committee was formed to work on the plan and Hansen said the members came to a consensus that the best opportunity for education would be the first seven days postpartum.
“Everything leading up to the birth of the baby is focused around the baby,” Hansen said, and that is important, but, he added, after the baby is born, “you are left hanging, not knowing where to go or what signs to look for if there are problems.”
“Our goal is to continue to act in the same selfless manner in which Tara lived her life,” Hansen said. “We believe expectant parents deserve equal education on the risks associated with the mother as well as the child.”
Creating the foundation and dedicating his efforts to increasing awareness of the issue of maternal health has been helping Hansen through his grieving process.
“I know this is exactly what Tara would have wanted,” Hansen said. “I know her personality and I know her work in education was so important to her. She helped people every day and she would not want this to happen to others. We hope to keep Tara’s positive spirit and appreciation for life alive.”
When asked how his son is doing, Hansen said, “He is doing wonderfully. He is doing everything he should be doing and more.”
Tickets for the Oct. 20 event are $40. Go to tarahansenfoundation.com or on Facebook. For more information, send an email to [email protected].