Closing the Gaps of Maternal Health in Conflict and Crises
Posted onLast week, experts in maternal and reproductive health gathered at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. to discuss the latest data on maternal health in conflict and crises, identify policy and funding gaps and explore how to address maternal health in these hard-to-reach areas. The dialogue, Closing the Gaps of Maternal Health in Conflict and Crises, was part of the Maternal Health Task Force’s Advancing Policy Dialogue on Maternal Health Series in partnership with the United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) and the Wilson Center. The panelists offered a range of perspectives and recommended key actions to improve maternal health in humanitarian settings…read more
Improving Quality of Antenatal Care: New Guidelines From the World Health Organization (WHO)
Posted onThe World Health Organization has released a new set of antenatal care recommendations to improve maternal and perinatal health worldwide. The guidelines seek to reduce the global burden of stillbirths, reduce pregnancy complications and provide all women and adolescents with a positive pregnancy experience…read more
Exploring the Sustainable Development Goals in the Context of Sexual, Reproductive and Maternal Health in Africa
Posted onThe African Journal of Reproductive Health recently launched a special issue on the implications of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for Africa’s development. Despite notable achievements, sub-Saharan Africa did not meet many of the preceding Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The special edition explores the transition from MDGs to SDGs in the context of sexual, reproductive and maternal health…read more
Putting The Lancet Maternal Health Series Into Action: Five Next Steps
Posted onLast week, experts in maternal health convened at the Wilson Center to mark the recent launch of The Lancet Maternal Health Series, discuss its implications and brainstorm how to translate findings into improvements for global maternal newborn health. The speakers called for five actions to ensure high quality care for every woman, every newborn, everywhere…read more
Global Leaders in Maternal and Newborn Health: Dr. Eshetu Bekele Yimenu (Ethiopia)
Posted onDr. Eshetu Bekele Yimenu is a young leader working at Save the Children International as Director of Research and Uptake leading the Research, Child Rights Governance and Campaigns Department in Ethiopia. In the latest post in the Global Leaders in Maternal and Newborn Health Series, Eshetu discusses how we can work together to reduce poverty and address maternal and child health issues in the global South…read more
Global Leaders in Maternal and Newborn Health: Dr. Zulfiqar Bhutta (Canada and Pakistan)
Posted onSMNLW participant Dr. Zulfiqar A. Bhutta is the Robert Harding Inaugural Chair in Global Child Health at The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Co-Director of the SickKids Centre for Global Child Health and the Founding Director of the Center of Excellence in Women and Child Health, at the Aga Khan University, unique joint appointments. He also holds adjunct professorships at several leading Universities globally including the Schools of Public Health at Johns Hopkins (Baltimore), Tufts University (Boston), Boston University School of Public Health, University of Alberta as well as the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. He is a designated Distinguished National Professor of the Government of Pakistan and was the Founding Chair of the National Research Ethics Committee of the Government of Pakistan from 2003-2014…read more
Global Leaders in Maternal Newborn Health: Maria Fernandez Elorriaga (Mexico)
Posted onSafe Mothers and Newborns Leadership Workshop participant Maria Fernandez Elorriaga is the principal investigator and technical coordinator of a study investigating the use of the World Health Organization Safe Childbirth Checklist to improve the quality of institutional delivery in Mexico. Maria is also co-investigator on two more studies of implementation science in maternal and perinatal care. In addition, Maria has worked as a primary and community care nurse in Spain, as a regional nutrition coordinator in Malawi and as child health and nutrition coordinator in the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria. Maria discusses challenges in maternal newborn health in Mexico and effective leadership…read more
Best Practices for Implementing the WHO Safe Childbirth Checklist: Engaging Staff and Stakeholders
Posted onLast month, scientists at Ariadne Labs, a collaboration between Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, hosted the second webinar in their interactive series dedicated to sharing lessons learned from implementing the World Health Organization (WHO) Safe Childbirth Checklist for quality improvement. Presenters explored how to ensure buy-in and identify relevant stakeholders, establish an implementation team and utilize best practices in checklist adaptation. Dr. Rosemary Ogu shared her team’s experience piloting a program using the checklist in Port Harcourt, Nigeria…read more
A Call to Action to Address Iatrogenic Fistula
Posted onThe majority of discussion, research and interventions related to genital fistula have focused on obstetric fistula, an abnormal opening in the upper or lower female genital tract which leads to uncontrollable, constant leakage of urine and/or feces caused by inadequate medical intervention during prolonged or obstructed labor. Significantly less attention, however, has been paid to iatrogenic fistula, a similar condition that results from surgical error, often during cesarean section. Given that a growing number of genital fistula cases in low-income countries derive from iatrogenic causes, the fistula dialogue must expand to incorporate its many root causes. To this end, the Fistula Care Plus project at EngenderHealth recently hosted a webinar to review available data, recognize data gaps, identify definition challenges, share successes and discuss next steps in addressing iatrogenic fistula…read more