Recent research indicates that between 25 per cent to 40 per cent of maternal deaths could be avoided by ensuring access to family planning. This data was cited in the 2009 Report of the UN Secretary-General to the Commission on Population and Development, World Population Monitoring, E/CN.9/2009/3, on page 20, citation 35, which is an article by Oona M.R. Campbell and Wendy J. Graham, “Strategies for reducing maternal mortality: getting on with what works”, that appeared in The Lancet, vol. 368, 2006.
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Event: Advancing Policy Dialogue on Maternal Health
November 18th, 2009
The Maternal Health Task Force has been working with the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Global Health Initiative and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to create a series of events on Advancing Policy Dialogue on Maternal Health. The first event will occur next month on December 3 from 12PM to 2PM in Washington D.C. at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The topic is the integration of HIV/AIDS and maternal health services. We encourage you to attend. If you are unable to attend the event in person, a live webcast will be broadcasted (and archived for later viewing) at www.wilsoncenter.org.
Fighting Maternal Mortality: Focusing on Vulnerable Groups
November 13th, 2009
At a high-level UN meeting in Istanbul, participants discussed how maternal mortality rates have been cut in half in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. However, according to a UNFPA progress report, many women in vulnerable groups remain at risk. In response, decision-makers and government officials from 20 countries attending the UNFPA meeting in Istanbul pledged to step up the fight against needless deaths and suffering resulting from pregnancy and childbirth.
Afghanistan Trains New Midwives
November 9th, 2009
This weekend, the Christian Science Monitor published an article called, “Amid war Afghanistan trains thousands of new midwives.” The article says:
Pashtoon Azfar, head of the Afghan Midwives Association, says the number of trained midwives has grown nearly six-fold since rebuilding effort in Afghanistan began. “In 2002, we had 467 midwives, but no one knew how qualified they were; for years, they had received no access to training,” says Ms. Azfar, also a midwifery specialist with the international nonprofit health organization Jhpiego, whose maternal health programs are funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Today, there are more than 2,400 midwives around the country who have been trained in a standardized and accredited two-year program, she says.
How Clean Water Can Save Mothers’ Lives
November 5th, 2009
Water use has grown at more than twice the rate of the world’s population over the past century, mostly for agricultural purposes, according to the 2009 United Nations Millennium Development Goals Report. This has left 884 million people at risk for–or already facing–a water shortage. And though we rarely think of the connection between maternal health and water, it’s one of the most important elements for women’s health. When women don’t have clean latrines and hand-washing stations, they often have poor hygiene practices that can lead to the spread of waterborne illnesses such as cholera, diarrhea, hepatitis and typhoid fever.