Women in low- and middle-income countries are faced with a double burden: they are at greater risk of experiencing perinatal depression compared to women in high-income countries, and they are also less likely to get the care they need. Even in high-income countries, many women with antepartum or postnatal depression are not screened, diagnosed or treated. In low-resource settings, many women cannot access health facilities for antepartum, intrapartum or postnatal care at all, and those who do often receive poor quality care…read more
Countdown to 2015 Becomes Countdown to 2030
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Countdown to 2015 for Maternal, Newborn and Child Survival (“Countdown”) was established in 2005 in response to The Lancet Child Survival Series with the goal of monitoring countries’ progress toward achieving Millennium Development Goals 4 (reduce child mortality) and 5 (improve maternal health) by 2015. Countdown is led by a team of multi-disciplinary leaders in the maternal and child health field, including researchers, governments, international agencies, professional organizations and other stakeholders. Now that the world has adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Countdown has extended its work to monitor progress toward achieving SDG 3 (ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages) by 2030…read more
How Good Are Our Current Measures for Maternal Health Care Quality?
Posted onThe public health community has emphasized the importance of quality of maternal health care, noting that increasing access to care alone is not sufficient for improving maternal health outcomes. Many of the maternal health quality of care indicators currently used around the world have not yet been validated, which means that we may not be measuring what really matters. Researchers have demonstrated a lack of correlation between quality measures and maternal mortality. The challenge is how to capture the quality of maternal health care in diverse settings across the globe: What factors are important, and how can those factors be measured accurately? In an effort to answer that question, the Maternal Health Task Force (MHTF) partnered with colleagues at the Population Council to evaluate current measures of maternal health care quality…read more
The Lancet Maternal Health Series: “Diversity and Divergence: The Dynamic Burden of Poor Maternal Health”
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The Lancet Maternal Health Series published last month contains six papers highlighting the importance of improving access to high quality maternal health care for all women across the globe. In paper 1, “Diversity and divergence: The dynamic burden of poor maternal health”, Graham and colleagues examine the changing distribution of causes of maternal death and disability (diversity) and the persistent inequalities between and within populations (divergence)…read more
Not All Facilities Are Created Equal: The Relationship Between Delivery Volume, Surgical Capacity and Quality of Maternal Health Care in Africa
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In a recent study published in The Lancet Global Health, Kruk and colleagues used nationally representative health system surveys to examine the quality of maternal health care provided in facilities in Kenya, Namibia, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda in relation to volume of deliveries and surgical capacity. Quality of care was evaluated using a set of indicators that measured the facility’s availability of 24-hour skilled staff, referral system, electricity, safe water, equipment for infection control, and ability to administer oxytocin, antibiotics and magnesium sulfate when necessary…read more
One Year Anniversary of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Where Are We Now?
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One of the defining features of the SDGs is an increased emphasis on equity and data disaggregation. Whereas the Millennium Development Goals were largely focused on improving global and regional outcomes on average, the SDGs call for efforts to improve outcomes at the national and local levels with specific attention to vulnerable populations. The SDG agenda requires access to accurate, disaggregated data and data infrastructure. Strong health information systems are necessary for collecting, measuring and tracking data in order to quantify progress…read more
Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives: Papers From the 2016 International Conference on Family Planning
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Global Health: Science and Practice recently released a special issue highlighting a number of papers on long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) following the 2016 International Conference on Family Planning held in Indonesia. The theme of this year’s conference was “global commitments, local actions”, emphasizing the role of partnerships in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. The papers examine the prevalence of LARC utilization, local perceptions of LARCs and the effectiveness of programming to promote LARCs in countries around the world…read more
New Publications From the World Health Organization: Counting Maternal Deaths and Stillbirths
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The majority of stillbirths and maternal and neonatal deaths are preventable, and yet every year an estimated 303,000 mothers die during childbirth, 2.7 million babies die within the first 28 days of life and 2.6 million stillbirths occur. Particularly in countries with insufficient health information systems, many of these deaths are not recorded or reviewed. Access to accurate data on the incidence and causes of mortality is crucial for developing life-saving interventions. The World Health Organization (WHO) recently released three publications designed to help countries improve data collection on maternal and neonatal deaths…read more
The Lancet Maternal Health Series
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The Maternal Health Task Force (MHTF) is pleased to share with you The Lancet Maternal Health Series! We are grateful to Oona Campbell and Wendy Graham who played crucial roles in putting this series together and to the many authors and colleagues who were involved in the production of the series. The series highlights key issues in the global maternal health field and provides diverse perspectives on the way forward…read more
Disparities in Antenatal Care Utilization in Mesoamerica and Beyond
Posted onAntenatal care (ANC) is a crucial component of ensuring optimal health outcomes for mothers and newborns. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that women attend at least four ANC visits during pregnancy starting in the first trimester. ANC visits often serve as a gateway to health care for women, particularly in low-resource settings. Unfortunately, many women around the world do not access ANC at health facilities due to a number of barriers, including the inability to afford services and long distance from health facilities. In numerous settings, women with the highest levels of education and from the wealthiest socioeconomic strata are more likely to attend at least four ANC visits…read more