Joy Riggs-Perla – Maternal Health Task Force

The Global Development Framework in Transition: Where Are Mothers and Newborns in the Post-2015 Era?

February 4, 2016October 12, 2016

By: Ana Langer, Director of the Maternal Health Task Force and Women and Health Initiative; Joy Riggs-Perla, Director, Saving Newborn Lives at Save the Children; Koki Agarwal, Director, Maternal and Child Survival Program

By Koki Agarwal, Director, Maternal and Child Survival Program; Ana Langer, Director, Maternal Health Task Force; and Joy Riggs-Perla, Director, Saving Newborn Lives at Save the Children

While the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) underlined the necessity of better policies and programs to improve maternal and child health, HIV and AIDS, malaria, and other health conditions, the approach had significant flaws. Having separate goals for mothers and children may have been a disservice, fostering the persistent segmentation of service delivery.

The era of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) recently started. With their focus on universal health care, equity, and integration, the new policy framework represents a historic opportunity to build on progress, while addressing the limitations of the MDGs. It is critical, however, not to let an emphasis on maternal and newborn health wane in this new broad agenda… read more

The Challenges and Opportunities for Maternal Newborn Integration

March 10, 2015October 27, 2016

By: Joy Riggs-Perla, Director, Saving Newborn Lives at Save the Children

Poor integration of maternal and newborn services during pregnancy, childbirth and in the postpartum period can have adverse consequences for the quality of care that mothers and babies receive. It can also affect the equitable access to this care, especially among poor and marginalized populations. In many countries around the world, significant challenges exist at the national, sub-national and local levels for the increase of maternal and newborn health integration. A variety of health system, financial, human resource as well as societal factors must be recognized and addressed to find the right balance of integrated service delivery… read more

Achieving Better Outcomes With Maternal and Newborn Integration

November 10, 2014June 12, 2017

By: Ana Langer, Director of the Maternal Health Task Force and Women and Health Initiative; Joy Riggs-Perla, Director, Saving Newborn Lives at Save the Children

By Ana Langer, Director, Maternal Health Task Force and Joy Riggs-Perla, Director, Save the Children’s Saving Newborn Lives program.
When thinking about the term integration for maternal and newborn health care we need to keep our focus with the intended outcome. Our attention should be on providing equitable, high-quality care for both the mother and the newborn.