An estimated 2.6 million stillbirths occur every year across the globe, but many of them are not counted, reviewed or reported. The Every Newborn Action Plan proposed a target for reducing global stillbirths during the Sustainable Development Goal period from 18.4 stillbirths per 1,000 births to 12 or fewer stillbirths per 1,000 births by 2030. However, inaccurate reporting and inconsistencies with definitions are key challenges for tracking progress and achieving this target…read more
How Surgery Can Treat and Cause Fistula
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Challenges Health Workers Face When Trying to Provide High Quality Maternity Care
Posted onThe Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews recently published a qualitative evidence synthesis of factors that influence the provision of intrapartum and postnatal care by skilled birth attendants in low- and middle-income countries. Meeting the needs of health workers is essential to ensuring that women receive high quality maternity care…read more
Dispelling the Myth of the “Happy Pregnancy”: An Interview With Astrid Kamperman
Posted onOn 2 November 2017, Astrid Kamperman joined the Maternal Health Task Force (MHTF) for a panel discussion about noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and maternal health. Later, the researcher based at the Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands sat down with the MHTF’s Sarah Hodin to talk more about her research on maternal mental health…read more
BOLDly Redefining High Quality Care During Labor and Delivery
Posted onBarriers to Misoprostol Use in Developing Countries
Posted onTackling Noncommunicable Diseases and Maternal Mortality: A Conversation With Katja Iversen
Posted onTowards a Global Discourse on Vaginal Birth After Cesarean
Posted onOver the past few decades, cesarean section rates have increased dramatically in virtually every part of the world—including in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). As global cesarean rates rise, more and more women in LMICs will be faced with a dilemma: “Do I attempt a VBAC or choose a repeat cesarean?” Weighing the risks and benefits of these choices becomes even more complicated in health facilities that do not meet basic requirements for safe surgery…read more
New Interactive Tool: Evidence Mapping on Social, Behavioral and Community Engagement Interventions for Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health
Posted onThe World Health Organization, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) and Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health recently released an evidence map of social, behavioral and community engagement interventions for reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health. The report was accompanied by an interactive online tool illustrating the impact of several types of interventions on different outcomes…read more