Updates

I'm about the get on the plane to Los Angeles for the Leadership for Health: African First Ladies Health Summit. Just before I left, my team equipped me with a checklist to hand to all the First Ladies at the event.

At the Leadership for Health Summit, I’m planning to talk with the 22 African First Ladies who are attending. But, my other target group at this conference will be the corporate representatives.

Next week I have the privilege of joining some pretty amazing women at “Leadership for Health: Africa First Ladies Health Summit” in Los Angeles.

To celebrate Mother and Child Health Week in Rwanda, Global Health Progress (GHP) held a roundtable discussion with maternal and child health-focused organizations operating in Rwanda to learn more about ongoing projects promoting the health of women and children.

In Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem's Women's eNews' piece, "Mothers Should Not Die Giving Life," he puts a face on the stats -- his sister, Asmau.

UNICEF blogged a great post focused on maternal and neonatal tetanus. Jen Banbury mentions that most people in the US think of tetanus as something you get if you step on a rusty nail. But in the developing world just a decade ago, 30,000 mothers were dying from tetanus each year.

In health facilities across Kenya, many workers are struggling to do their jobs in less-than-ideal conditions. Work climate issues such as poor working environments, unfriendly colleagues, disorganized facility functions and ineffective supervision have been hindering workers’ performance and productivity—and contributing to low retention.

Today, February 6, is the International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Cutting.  The United Nations estimates that two million girls undergo FGM/C each year. The possible repercussions of FGM/C are numerous, including psychological trauma, difficulties during childbirth, gynecological problems, and death.

We just discovered a great non-profit called OneMama.

The Campaign to End Fistula was recognized as a model for championing collaboration between countries in the Global South, receiving an award of excellence from the United Nations Development Programme.

Late last month, Population Action International (PAI) showed the world premiere of their documentary The Silent Partner: HIV in Marriage. The screening drew more than 170 community leaders, members of the media, and local and international advocates together in Nairobi, Kenya.

Ghana's First Lady Mrs. Theresa Kufuor called for the strengthening of partnerships aimed at funding and improving sexual and reproductive health programmes.

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.

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.

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.

Check out this video about the success of Kangaroo Mother Care in Malawi.

Everyday, over 1,400 women and adolescent girls die needlessly from giving birth and 40,000 more suffer injuries and disabilities that can last a lifetime. Complications of pregnancy are the leading cause of death for young women aged 15 to 19 in the developing world.

A new report on maternal mortality, released by UNICEF, highlights the risks faced during pregnancy and childbirth by women in developing countries.

The Uganda government approved the use of the low-cost drug, misoprostol, to treat and prevent excessive bleeding in mothers during childbirth to curb the high maternal mortality rates.