Can ‘supergeeks’ save Kenya’s babies?
Posted onLet’s Reward the Use of Maternal Health Supplies
Posted onAs far as maternal health supplies go, it is easy for groups to forget the role of the three key life-saving commodities and therefore fail to prioritize their presence in health facilities 100% of the time. Arguably, services — with their immediate human element — make for better story-telling a lot of the time. And good storytelling is a mainstay of the marketing and publicity that surround award mechanisms. And by comparison, supplies often carry rather sterile connotations of warehouses, supply chains, and transportation… read more
The Myth of the Meager Maternal Health Market
Posted onWhen I first entered this line of work, I often heard one thing: the maternal health market is way too small to be sustainable, much less lucrative. Naturally, one can only expect market failure for maternal health drugs and, by extension, a chronic situation of limited access to lifesaving medicines among those most in need. However, I disagree…. read more
Maternal mortality in rural South Ethiopia: Outcomes of community-based birth registration by health extension workers
Posted onBrown supports bill to reduce OB-GYN shortages
Posted onImproving Access to Maternal Health Commodities Through a Systems Approach: Where Are We Now?
Posted onNearly three years ago, I blogged about a systems approach to improving access for a Maternal Health Task Force (MHTF) series on maternal health commodities. It was an exciting year for maternal health. The UN Commission on Life-Saving Commodities for Women and Children (UNCoLSC) had just released its report with 10 recommendations for improving access to 13 priority commodities that included 3 for maternal health: oxytocin, misoprostol and magnesium sulfate. Since then, great progress has been made in identifying the bottlenecks to access, raising awareness of the complexity of addressing these challenges and increasing global commitment to ending preventable maternal deaths as part of the post-2015 development agenda… read more
Measuring Maternal Health in a Post-MDG World
Posted onEvent: Call the Midwife: A Conversation About The Rising Global Midwifery Movement
Posted onThis Monday, March 23rd, the Wilson Center in Washington, DC will host an all-day symposium on the global importance of midwifery, supported by the MHTF and UNFPA. The event is open for all to attend, but you must RSVP! Speakers from around the world and across the maternal health community are coming together to discuss the global midwifery movement. They will highlight midwifery as a cost-effective solution towards promoting maternal and newborn health based on the latest evidence, discuss some major global midwifery initiatives underway, demonstrate innovations in the field of midwifery and discuss some interesting country experiences. The symposium hopes to further foster partnerships and synergies in midwifery and help build global commitments for scale up of midwifery. In order to review the formal invitation from The Wilson Center below with agenda and RSVP details please… read more