14,000 squares, 2,000 letters, and 10 million lives

This March, Oxfam supporters set themselves the ambitious goal of knitting thousands of squares for a giant baby blanket, to bring attention to the lack of decent maternal medical care in poor countries.

After six months of street knitting, knit-ins with MPs, and even knitting on tall ships, over 10,000 knitters worked tirelessly to create a whopping 14,000 squares - enough to fill an entire hall. And in September, it was handed over to the Prime Minister's wife, Sarah Brown, at Number 10.

Why was this happening?

In the year 2000, 189 countries came together and set eight ambitious targets - the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) - aimed at halving the number of people living in extreme poverty by 2015.

Where commitments to meet the MDGs have been met, millions of people are now better off. But the pace of progress on meeting many of the goals remains dangerously slow, and of the eight MDGs, reducing maternal mortality is the most off-track.

As September 2008 marked the mid-way point to the 2015 deadline, Oxfam supporters came together to keep the pressure on.

Making enormous knitted petitions was just part of how you'd been working to raise awareness of the lack of decent maternal healthcare in the run up to the Summit.

Over 2,000 people wrote personal letters to Gordon Brown. In five different countries, campaigners gathered for short flashmobs to further raise awareness about maternal mortality. Along London's Southbank passers by were met with the unusual sight of breakdancers headspinning for decent healthcare, with unsuspecting passers by equally flummoxed in Paris, Berlin, the Netherlands and Canada. The videos were viewed by over 30,000 people in less than a week.

At the same time a coalition between Oxfam, the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) and Save the Children joined forces with artists, musicians and other public figures to launch In My Name.

Thanks to your campaigning, a raft of measures were announced when world leaders met in New York to discuss progress on the MDGs. And if these measures are met they will help save the lives of 10 million mothers and newborn babies over the next 7 years.

Gordon Brown announced that the UK will give £450 million in aid over the next three years to support national health plans in eight countries.

In addition, Norway announced US$1 billion (£590 billion) for maternal, newborn and child health for 10 years.

Developing countries made commitments too, with Burundi pledging to make health care free for pregnant women, and Mozambique pledging to increase health workers from 25,000 to 45,000 by 2015.

Maternal mortality was the MDG most off track but is now top of the agenda - and that's because of your actions. The pledges made at the UN will make a real difference if they are delivered, ensuring millions of mothers have a safe and healthy pregnancy and childbirth.