In June 2017, at the 31st International Confederation of Midwives Triennial Congress in Toronto, Canada, the United States Agency for International Development–supported Fistula Care Plus (FC+) project at EngenderHealth convened a panel discussion co-sponsored by Bard Medical on postpartum care following prolonged/obstructed labor (P/OL)…read more
India’s Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) program was established by the National Rural Health Mission in 2010 with an aim to improve health outcomes—particularly among women and children—and to reduce disparities by working in their own communities as health activists, educators and providers of basic essential services. While evidence has found ASHAs to have several positive impacts, these community health workers face a number of challenges…read more
While studies of public facilities in India have indicated generally poor quality of care, evidence from private facilities—particularly for normal labor and delivery—is scarce. In an effort to address this evidence gap, a recent article from the Bulletin of the World Health Organization assessed the quality of essential obstetric and newborn care during routine labor and delivery in Uttar Pradesh, India…read more
Interventions to improve facilities’ capacity to respond quickly and effectively to obstetric emergencies are often extremely difficult to implement in low-resource settings. However, several low- and middle-income countries have implemented effective interventions to reduce maternal deaths despite resource limitations and other challenges…read more
As a leading cause of maternal mortality, preeclampsia and related hypertensive disorders of pregnancy claim the lives of nearly 76,000 mothers and 500,000 babies worldwide every year. To raise awareness about preeclampsia as a life-threatening complication of pregnancy, maternal health organizations around the world are joining forces to host the first-ever World Preeclampsia Day on 22 May…read more
Diabetes in pregnancy is on the rise globally, currently affecting roughly 14 million women every year. As with most problems related to pregnancy complications, diabetes in pregnancy is more prevalent in low- and middle-income countries, which account for 88% of cases worldwide. Yet the countries where diabetes in pregnancy is most prevalent are the least likely to offer routine screening and treatment…read more
Unlike in most countries around the world, the maternal mortality rate in the United States has risen over the last decade. To address this problem, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) partnered with key stakeholders to host “Eradicating Avoidable Maternal Mortality with Improvement Science,” an event held in conjunction with the IHI National Forum…read more
As suggested by the ground-breaking 1978 Alma-Ata Declaration, integrating maternal, newborn and child health services into primary health care can be an effective strategy for reducing health inequities—particularly socioeconomic and geographic disparities—by delivering care at the community level…read more
USAID reports that there are 18 million fewer health professionals in the world than what is needed, and the largest shortages are in parts of Asia and in sub-Saharan Africa. This implies that large numbers of women do not have access to skilled health care. Task shifting can be a key strategy to minimize this gap and prevent maternal deaths due to pre-eclampsia/eclampsia…read more
Antenatal care (ANC) coverage has expanded over the last fifteen years: The proportion of women in developing countries receiving at least one ANC visit increased from 64% in 1990 to 83% in 2014. While this increase in utilization is a step in the right direction, content and quality of ANC are equally important factors…read more
