WOMEN WHO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Ibu Robin Lim: "Gentle Birthing"

Ibu Robin Lim is a professional midwife, with a passion for delivering babies gently.

Lim couples modern methods with ancient rituals during the delicate labour process to etch a lasting impact on the baby and mother. The way a baby is brought into the world greatly affects the way he turns out, says Lim.

"The world would be a better place if all children are greeted gently into the world," says Lim.

Her interest in birthing came after she experienced becoming a mother at a very young age.

Ibu Lim's Health Mother Earth Foundation has been assisting mothers and babies from a pro bono health clinic in the rice fields of Bali and Aceh, Indonesia for years.

Lim says she lives for love and believes in miracles.

"Every life makes a difference and I follow a religion of gratitude."

In 2004, her organization responded to the Indian Ocean tsunami, which destroyed the coastal regions of Indonesia's Aceh province, the worst hit area from the disaster.

Lim has received regional and global recognition for her work. But the Mother Earth Foundation is struggling to stay afloat. The infant mortality rate in Indonesia is the highest in all Asia, but Lim only has a few full-time workers and limited funds.