Christy Turlington walking in a Paris fashion show in 1993 'Really, so few of the days and years as a model were that satisfying.

Most notably she was the face of Calvin Klein from 1987 until 2007, however over the past decade, she been working quietly, but tirelessly, to succeed in an area far removed from the glamorous fashion industry.

Transcending beauty: Christy Turlington walking in a Paris fashion show in 1993

'Really, so few of the days and years as a model were that satisfying. I always knew I wanted to do something more,' she said.
'My sisters and their friends were all in college, studying and learning, and I was envious. After a few years of modeling, I felt like I’d learned all I needed to know about it. And when it started to define me, I thought, Uh Oh, I’m not comfortable with this.'
Now, she is focused on one of the most challenging, but largely unknown issues in global health - maternal death.
While she uses her high-profile and forever-youthful looks to crusade for the causes she feels strongly, people close to the model reveal how at ease she is with her philanthropic work.
Erin Thornton, the executive director of Ms Turlington Burns' charity Every Mother Counts, said: 'I really would say that Christy seems totally at home and comfortable in the back of a bumpy van, driving for hours to some rural village to meet with people who don’t know she’s famous.
'She’s willing to put her story out there, and because of this, people know she’s real and invested.'
Every Mother Counts is a charity focused on reducing maternal mortality.
Approximately 350,000 women die due to complications from pregnancy or childbirth every year, or one woman every 90 seconds, according to the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health.
Ms Turlington Burns said: 'That’s a number I stand by, and it’s especially large when you consider the fact that the majority of these deaths are preventable.
'I could not believe it when I first did the research, and I wondered, Why aren’t more people talking about this?'
She explained that she began to research the issue after her own brush with a maternal health complication.
In 2003, after the birth of her daughter, Grace, she suffered a postpartum hemorrhage (PPH), a rare postlabor complication that could have been fatal without access to emergency medical care.