What Explains the United States’ Dismal Maternal Mortality Rates?

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By: Anna Bella Korbatov, Intern, Environmental Change and Security Program, Wilson Center

Join Us to Find Out What Explains the United States’ Dismal Maternal Mortality Rates

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Join us in Washington, D.C. at the Wilson Center (and online!) next Thursday, November 19 from 10a-12p EST to hear from experts from the federal to local level about what is driving the rising maternal mortality ratio and why African American women are faring the worst. From 1990 to 2013, the maternal mortality more than doubled in the United States from 12 to 28 deaths per 100,000 live births. Globally, the United States ranks worse than most developed nations, at 65th in the world. Contributing to these dismal numbers are deep inequities in health across race, socioeconomic status, and geography. Black women die at a rate that ranges from three to four times the rate of their white counterparts, a difference that has remained largely unchanged over six decades… read more

Previewing the Next Generation of Global Maternal and Newborn Health Programs in Mexico City

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By: Sandeep Bathala, Senior Program Associate, Maternal Health Initiative, Wilson Center

The Global Maternal Newborn Health Conference, held in Mexico City from October 18-21, will provide a forum to identify, understand, and respond to the most urgent health needs of mothers and newborns. The hope is that it will accelerate momentum for maternal and newborn health in the newly adopted Sustainable Development Goals and put us on a track to end all preventable maternal and newborn deaths. One of the best ways to ensure progressive change is to showcase innovative and effective solutions and then consider how to replicate and expand those successes. For maternal and newborn health programs, this applies to improvements in quality, integration, and equity. I’m confident we’ll hear about many new and innovative approaches in Mexico City… read more

Lauri Romanzi on Rethinking Maternal Morbidity Care in a Historical Context

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By: Josh Feng, Intern, Environmental Change and Security Program, Wilson Center

In May 1855, Dr. James Marion Sims opened the first obstetric fistula hospital in New York City. Just 40 years later, it closed, reflecting a sharp decline in maternal morbidity rates in the United States and other Western countries. The Waldorf Astoria Hotel now stands on the site of the former hospital. “We know that we have eradicated obstetric fistula in high income countries; it happened at the turn of the 20th century,” says Dr. Lauri Romanzi, project director of Fistula Care Plus, in this week’s podcast. That timing is crucial, says Romanzi, because there is a narrative that argues certain social determinants must be changed to eradicate fistula in developing countries today, such as forced marriage, teen pregnancy, women’s education and suffrage, antenatal care, and gender-based violence… read more

Event: Panel on Obstetric Fistula and Uterine Prolapse Next Week

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This Wilson Center event, Restoring Hope and Dignity: New Developments and Best Practices in Addressing Maternal Morbidities, supported by the MHTF, will feature a panel presentation of the newest data and best practices from those who work most closely with maternal morbidities like obstetric fistula and pelvic organ prolapse. Both morbidities illustrate the global imperative to address non-wealthy nations’ lack of access to preventative and curative health services, which creates insurmountable barriers to overcoming preventable and treatable maternal morbidity and mortality… read more

Swept Under the Carpet: The Psychological Side of Maternal Health

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By: Carley Chavara, Intern, Environmental Change and Security Program, The Wilson Center

In high-income countries, as many as 10 to 15 percent of women experience depression, anxiety, or other non-psychotic mental health challenges during pregnancy or the year after giving birth. In developing countries, the chances rise to 16 percent of pregnant women and 20 percent of post-natal women, according to Jane Fisher, professor of women’s health at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. Despite the prevalence of these so-called perinatal common mental health disorders (PCMDs), they remain extremely underreported and undertreated. “We have a huge problem that has been kept under the carpet and it is just beginning to emerge,” said Dr. Ricardo Araya of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine at the Wilson Center on April 9… read more