From the Archives | Midwives Can Significantly Reduce Maternal Mortality, But They Need Support

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By: Kayla McGowan, Project Coordinator, Women and Health Initiative, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

From the archives: An interview with the Maternal Health Task Force’s Technical Director Rima Jolivet about her experience as a certified nurse-midwife and her thoughts on the current and future landscape of midwifery…read more

Improving Quality of Antenatal Care: New Guidelines From the World Health Organization (WHO)

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By: Kayla McGowan, Project Coordinator, Women and Health Initiative, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

The 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

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By: Kayla McGowan, Project Coordinator, Women and Health Initiative, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

The 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

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By: Kayla McGowan, Project Coordinator, Women and Health Initiative, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Last 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 Newborn Health: Maria Fernandez Elorriaga (Mexico)

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By: Kayla McGowan, Project Coordinator, Women and Health Initiative, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Safe 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

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By: Kayla McGowan, Project Coordinator, Women and Health Initiative, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Last 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

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By: Kayla McGowan, Project Coordinator, Women and Health Initiative, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

The 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