Judith F. Helzner wrote a blog post on RH Reality Check all about the pillars of maternal health that are necessary to support a sustained drop in pregnancy-related deaths. To learn more about the pillars, click here. As Helzner says,
These interventions can be funded and introduced without overhauling health systems. What’s missing is the political will. For the global community to meet commitments made in the Millennium Development Goals, attention and resources need to be redirected, and greater concern put forth by health experts, government officials and ordinary citizens.
The Campaign to End Fistula, led by UNFPA, has just announced that they’ll quadruple in size and work in 45 countries (up from 12). There are at least 2 million women in Africa, Asia and the Arab region living with obstetric fistula and 50,000 to 100,000 new cases developing each year. While obstetric fistula is uncommon in countries where births are attended by skilled medical workers and emergency obstetric care is available, and where women can exercise their right to determine the number and spacing of their children, it occurs disproportionately among poor girls and women, especially those living far from medical services and with lack of access to family planning. It’s one of the leading killers of pregnant women.
This week, the report ‘Supporting Efforts to End Obstetric Fistula‘ was submitted to the General Assembly by Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. It is the first-ever report on obstetric fistula to go to the General Assembly.
Today, October 15, is Blog Action Day. And here at Women Deliver, we’re psyched to get involved and be a part of this amazing movement. Today, thousands of bloggers will unite to discuss a single issue – poverty. The aim is to raise awareness, initiate action and to shake the web! And poverty is something that is at the core of maternal and newborn mortality.
Because of different levels of investment in women’s needs, huge disparities exist in the lifetime risks of maternal death for women in rich and poor countries, and between the rich and poor in all countries. Here are some grave stats:
Fewer than one in 16,400 women will die in pregnancy or childbirth in the ten top-ranked countries; but one in seven will die in Niger, at the bottom of the list.
This rich-poor disparity is the largest among all the public health indicators tracked by the World Health Organization.
The poorer the household, the greater the risk of maternal death: 99 percent of maternal deaths occur in developing countries.
Want to help? Visit our website for more info on how you can get involved. Or, sign up for our newsletter to get monthly emails about the issue.
There was a great feature in the Washington Post this weekend all about maternal mortality in Sierra Leone. Unfortunately, Sierra Leone has an extremely high maternal mortality rate — 1 in 8 women die during childbirth. The Post’s feature includes articles on women dying during childbirth, stillborn births, and multimedia photo galleries and a video from the field. Though the articles spoke at length about the the challenges pregnant women and their families face in developing African countries who experience preventable deaths due to the lack of basic health care, it neglected to talk about the solutions. We know what it takes to reduce maternal deaths. To find out, click here.
To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Seth Brau brought the important words to life with motion graphics. Check out the video below to see his moving interpretation. And remember that maternal health is a human right. Health care improvements must come within a broader context of efforts to promote human rights, reduce poverty, and foster equality between men and women.
These are tough economic times for most countries around the world, but Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed the importance of continued support for the efforts of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to empower the world’s women, particularly to improve maternal health and promote gender equality.
“The global financial crisis is forcing all of us to save and cut costs where we can. But our work for the women of the world must continue undiminished,” Mr. Ban said last night at the presentation of the 2008 International Award for the Health and Dignity of Women, which is given out by Americans for UNFPA.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has introduced a new tool in India to help health-care experts, policymakers, and local communities understand the causes of the high rates of maternal mortality across the country. The tool, known as the Maternal and Perinatal Death Inquiry and Response (MAPEDIR), has collected data and analyzed the cases of some 1,600 women.
“The tragic reality is that too often maternal deaths are not visible,” said Chris Hirabayashi, the deputy director of UNICEF’s programmes in India. “They don’t leave any trace behind, and their deaths are not accounted for.”
There’s a great blog post on RH Reality Check today about maternal mortality in Africa: On Maternal Mortality, Why Africa Falls So Far Behind. In the post, Edna Adan Ismail lists some of the reasons why African women die in pregnancy and childbirth: nutrition, education, high fertility, female genital mutilation, improper care at delivery and inadequate health facilities. To learn more about these issues, click here.
Watch this video clip of Martha Stewart talking about the dinner hosted by Sarah Brown, Wendi Murdoch and Queen Rania last week in NYC. 105 women from around the globe were invited to NYC’s Tao restaurant to discuss maternal mortality and why it’s such an important goal of the UN and the world community. Props to Martha Stewart for getting onboard and spreading the word about the campaign to fight for maternal health!
Check out this video about the success of Kangaroo Mother Care in Malawi. This process helps newborn babies with low birth weight gain weight through constant skin-to-skin contact with the mother and access to breastfeeding. It also means that whatever is needed for the medical, emotional, psychological and physical well being of mother and baby is provided to them, without separating them.
