Updates

By: Joanna Hoffman, Program Associate at Women Deliver, originally posted at the Maternal Health Task Force blog

Increasingly in the maternal health field, it is critical to know who the other players in the field are, where they work and how we can work together instead of constantly reinventing the wheel. This was the core incentive behind the mapping project Women Deliver has been working on with the Maternal Health Task Force. Since 2009, as of today we have mapped 884 NGOs working in the maternal health field: 527 total in India, Nigeria, Ghana, Bolivia, Peru and Indonesia; and 357 total so far in Afghanistan, Brazil, Cambodia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burkina Faso and Ethiopia. Taking part in this project has been enlightening, and has enabled us to identify barriers to access as well as potential for partnerships. Read more...

By: Mariko Rasmussen, Program Assistant at Women Deliver

Imagine a woman home alone and going into premature childbirth. She feels helpless and scared, and begins to bleed. Now imagine this woman has a mobile phone. She feels connected and more secure, knowing help is a text or phone call away. And if she had had access to a phone during her pregnancy, prenatal text messages could have prepared her for such an emergency. It is no surprise that increasing the use of mobile phones among women is a key strategy to reducing maternal and newborn mortality, and one of the five technologies that Women Deliver is championing to reach MDG5. Read more...