Updates

By: Rati Bishnoi, Special Projects Intern at Women Deliver

Over the last two years, thousands of people from all walks of life—from computer engineers to tribal women—in Malawi, Sierra Leone, and Orissa state in India have lent their voices and ideas to improve the quality of maternal and child health care in their communities.

These three areas have something in common – they house some of the worst maternal and child mortality rates in the world. But the barriers and challenges women face to quality care differ for many reasons. Recognizing that community members—including those not usually associated with maternal health care—have a valuable perspective to offer as well as a stake in improving the lives of women and girls, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2009 funded a global partnership between UNICEF and Concern Worldwide to find bold, new ideas for addressing gaps in the delivery of quality care. Read more...

A 9.0 magnitude earthquake, which is the largest to hit Japan since records began, hit the north-east of the country on 11 March 2011. It was followed by a series of strong aftershocks, and also triggered a massive tsunami, which has destroyed most of the cities and villages on the north-east coast of Japan. During periods following a major natural disaster, women often lose access to basic health services, as public health and clinical care infrastructure are disrupted. Read more...

By: Mariko Rasmussen, Communications Specialist at Women Deliver

Studies have shown that when women give birth less than 15 months after a previous birth, their risk of dying from pregnancy related causes is 150% higher than for women who wait longer to give birth again. When pregnancies are too close together, newborns can be born too soon, too small, or with a low birth weight, may not grow well and are more likely to die before the age of five. Birth spacing – allowing three to five years to pass between births – is a very important maternal and child health intervention. Read more...

By: Joy Marini, Director, Corporate Contributions, Johnson & Johnson

Last month, during the week-long Millennium Development Goals Summit in New York, I was fortunate to be able to participate in a number of activities with some of the world’s most compassionate and resourceful global health advocates. All of us gathered to share what we were doing to improve the health of women and children all over the world. I was inspired by the dedication of all participants and the sheer variety and volume of programs and approaches that are going on simultaneously to address these issues.

But with so many groups working on so many initiatives all at the same time, how can we be sure that we are making the most of what each sector has to offer? Read more...

Orginially posted on 8 March 2010 on Huffington Post by Rahim Kanani, Research Associate, Justice and Human Rights, Harvard Hauser Center

Today, when we think of Afghanistan, a cauldron of chaos comes to mind: massive international counterinsurgency and counternarcotics operations, countless NGOs struggling to maintain neutrality and operational integrity amidst the militarization of aid and development, and the sheer deprivation of dignity suffered by the overly-occupied Afghan people, among other such indictments of the international community's historic and present-day involvement. While these issues continually make above-the-fold headlines, today is International Women's Day (IWD), and I wish to highlight yet another travesty in Afghanistan: maternal mortality...

A few months ago, Deepali Gaur Singh wrote a piece on the Huffington Post about maternal mortality in India and Women Deliver's efforts to improve maternal health in this region.

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.

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.

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.

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.