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Swept Under the Carpet: The Psychological Side of Maternal Health

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

How to Use Mobile Technology to Integrate Maternal and Newborn Health Care

When the idea of MAMA was in its infancy it was always about maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH), because we knew that they go hand in hand. If a woman’s pregnancy isn’t healthy then chances are her baby, and ultimately her growing child, won’t be either. That’s why we worked with BabyCenter and other MNCH experts to create a set of core health messages that adhere to global best practices, designing them to be sent two to three times a week to cover a woman’s pregnancy all the way through her child’s third year of life… read more

The Challenges and Opportunities for Maternal Newborn Integration

Poor integration of maternal and newborn services during pregnancy, childbirth and in the postpartum period can have adverse consequences for the quality of care that mothers and babies receive. It can also affect the equitable access to this care, especially among poor and marginalized populations. In many countries around the world, significant challenges exist at the national, sub-national and local levels for the increase of maternal and newborn health integration. A variety of health system, financial, human resource as well as societal factors must be recognized and addressed to find the right balance of integrated service delivery… read more

Ten Arguments for Why Gender Should Be a Central Focus for Universal Health Coverage Advocates

By: Research in Gender and Ethics (RinGs) Steering Committee This post is the first in the Woman-Centered Universal Health Coverage Series, hosted by the Maternal Health Task Force and USAID|TRAction, which discusses the importance of utilizing a woman-centered agenda to operationalize universal health coverage. To contribute a post, contact Katie Millar. To make universal health coverage (UHC) truly universal we need … Continue reading “Ten Arguments for Why Gender Should Be a Central Focus for Universal Health Coverage Advocates”

MHTF Leads JAIDS Supplement on HIV, Reproductive, and Maternal Health Services

The Maternal Health Task Force (MHTF) is pleased to announce the publication of a themed supplement to the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (JAIDS) focused on the critical intersections between HIV, reproductive, and maternal health services in sub-Saharan Africa. The creation of the supplement was led by Dr. Tamil Kendall of the MHTF and co-edited … Continue reading “MHTF Leads JAIDS Supplement on HIV, Reproductive, and Maternal Health Services”

Achieving Better Outcomes With Maternal and Newborn Integration

By Ana Langer, Director, Maternal Health Task Force and Joy Riggs-Perla, Director, Save the Children’s Saving Newborn Lives program.
When thinking about the term integration for maternal and newborn health care we need to keep our focus with the intended outcome. Our attention should be on providing equitable, high-quality care for both the mother and the newborn.

WHO Welcomes Revitalized Interest in Maternal and Newborn Heath Integration

This post is part of the Maternal and Newborn Health Integration Blog Series, “Integration of Maternal and Newborn Health: In Pursuit of Quality” technical meeting. The World Health Organization (WHO) welcomes the revitalizedinterest in integration of maternal and newborn health care as integration is the key to success for both improving maternal health and for ending preventable … Continue reading “WHO Welcomes Revitalized Interest in Maternal and Newborn Heath Integration”

Disrespect and Abuse During Maternity Care Keep Women From Seeking Facility Births

This post is part of the Maternal and Newborn Integration Blog Series, which shares themes of and reactions to the “Integration of Maternal and Newborn Health: In Pursuit of Quality” technical meeting. Forward: In the following post, Dr. Agarwal speaks of an unfortunately common problem between health workers and mothers: disrespect and abuse. This problem … Continue reading “Disrespect and Abuse During Maternity Care Keep Women From Seeking Facility Births”

Part 2: The Continuum of Care: Call the Midwife

This post is part of our “Continuum of Care” blog series hosted by the Maternal Health Task Force In our first blog, Esther is faced with two issues: a) accessing information (long queues at the clinic) and b) accessing commodities (pregnancy test). Now, she is 31 weeks pregnant and though she’s been to the clinic twice, she … Continue reading “Part 2: The Continuum of Care: Call the Midwife”