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.

Yesterday, Sarah Brown wrote a piece for the Guardian on her new campaign to improve maternal care. In the article she referenced Professor Allan Rosenfield's famous quote, "Where is the 'M' in MCH?" To address this question, she referenced some recent positive steps forward.

A Powerful Noise LIVE demonstrated not only the capacity for the field of Women’s Empowerment to put on a nation-wide advocacy event, but also the possibility of engaging the public in these issues.

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.

Ann Pettifor wrote a piece on the dinner, called "An Important Dinner for Women," that she attended at Davos.

The Going for Goals publication was a joint production by Marie Stopes International and seven other international NGOs who are concerned at the slow progress being made in meeting the UN Millennium Development Goals.

On January 12, Roy M. Pitkin, Professor Emeritus in the UCLA School of Medicine and author of the new book Gods Love: A Modern Medical Perspective on Illnesses that Caused the Early Death of Famous People wrote about the reduction of maternal mortality as the greatest success of the 20th century.

Beth Fredrick wrote a REALLY great post today on RH Reality Check  of the top ten wins for women's health for 2008. We've copied the quick list below, but click here to read the full details and her opinion of "what's next."

Ann Starrs, president of Family Care International, wrote an article, “Half a Million Reasons,” in the current issue of Public Service Review: International Development. In it, Starrs provides an update on progress toward MDG 5, on the challenges that still lie in the way of its fulfillment, and on recent causes for hope.

The December issue of National Geographic has a great piece on maternal and child health in the central part of India's Maharashtra state. The author, Tina Rosenberg, focuses on the Jamkhed program that trains local midwives to administer health services and deliver babies safely.

Guatemala has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in Latin America, where death during childbirth is 20 times more likely than in the developed world. The majority of these deaths are preventable, with access to sufficient medical care — a challenge for many Guatemalans, particularly those in remote areas.

One of the many remarkable and heartening aspects of the 2008 U.S. election is that it has engaged the entire world. As we have already heard from countless friends, colleagues, and supporters, we are suddenly living in a time not just of daunting challenges, but of inspiring opportunity and hope.

Professor Jeremy Shiffman, a political scientist at Syracuse University who has a particular interest in maternal, newborn, and child health, has been developing a new field of enquiry to analyze the critical factors underlying successful political advocacy for global health causes.

The BBC has produced a new multi-series documentary called “Survival” that includes a 45-minute look at maternal health in Bangladesh. To capture the true story, the filmmakers traveled to a remote area in the North East of Bangladesh and filmed the labor of a young woman, Morjina, in her small hut with the aid of traditional birth attendant, or dhai.

More than 75 religious leaders and representatives of Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jewish, Christian and Muslim faith-based organizations formed a global interfaith network to strengthen cooperation against the global issues of maternal death, AIDS, and poverty.