International Day for Maternal Health and Rights: Answering the Call to Action

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By: Kathleen McDonald, Senior Program Manager, Maternal Health Task Force, Women and Health Initiative; Natalie Ramm, Communications Coordinator, Maternal Health Task Force, Women and Health Initiative

Today, April 11, 2014 is the inaugural International Day for Maternal Health and Rights. Spearheaded by CHANGE, and co-sponsored by a consortium* of leading maternal health organizations, the event was launched with a tweetchat to discuss rights-based women’s health care, including respectful maternity care. The discussion served as a call to action for government, international institutions, and the global community to recognize the day and take action to keep maternal health on the post-2015  agenda.

People and organizations responded in droves, and by midday east coast time, #IntlMHDay and #maternalhealth were trending worldwide on Twitter. Chat participants answered questions posed by CHANGE and shared their perspectives on the status of maternal health as a human rights issue.

The overwhelming response from the global maternal health community signals that rights-based maternal health is a key area of concern, and we have heard you.

Last year, the Maternal Health Task Force issued a call for your perspectives on respectful maternity care.  In celebration of the International Day for Maternal Health and Rights, we are re-launching our RMC blog series. This year, we want to hear from you on the full spectrum of women’s health services.  To quote CHANGE:

If you have a story you would like to share, or thoughts on keeping women-centered healthcare in the post-2015 agenda, please email Natalie Ramm.

Read the Twitter transcript of the event on Storify!

*Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, Ibis Reproductive Health, International Center for Research on Women, International Planned Parenthood Association, Pathfinder International, Population Council, Women Deliver