Maternal Health News and Research

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U.S. government, World Bank launch initiatives to collect more, better data on women worldwide

"The World Bank and U.S. government on Thursday each announced major new initiatives aimed at expanding knowledge on the experience of women around the world, while acknowledging that much remains to be done on filling the global 'data gap' on women," Inter Press Service reports.

21 Jul 2012

VOA examines maternal mortality in South Sudan one year after independence

"A year after independence, South Sudan is still battling a lack of staff and resources as it tries to end its distinction of having the highest maternal mortality rate in the world," VOA News reports.

18 Jul 2012

Gates Foundation's efforts to improve access to contraceptives will improve health, lives of women, children

"Supporters of women's health ought to cheer the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's plan" to provide $1 billion over eight years to increasing women's access to contraceptives and family planning services because the "effort underscores the critical role of family planning in the international battle to reduce poverty and improve maternal health," a Seattle Times editorial states.

17 Jul 2012

Blog posts address London Summit on Family Planning

On World Population Day, observed on Wednesday, July 11, the U.K. Government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation co-hosted the London Summit on Family Planning. The following are summaries of blog posts addressing the summit.

13 Jul 2012

Satisfying unmet need for contraception could reduce maternal deaths by 30%

New research published as part of The Lancet Series on family planning provides startling new estimates of the effect that contraceptive use has on the number of mothers who die every year, suggesting that satisfying the global unmet need for contraception of women who want to limit or space their pregnancies but are not using contraception could reduce maternal deaths by 30%, saving around 104000 lives per year.

10 Jul 2012

Family planning is central to global development according to new evidence in the Lancet

Increasing access to family planning will play a central role in achieving UN targets for maternal health, eradication of poverty, education, and gender equality, according to a major new Series on Family Planning published today by The Lancet.

10 Jul 2012

Childbearing may reduce mortality in later life

All-cause mortality rates fall progressively among women aged 60–76 years the more children they have borne, show Australian study results.

9 Jul 2012

Indonesia must work to empower women in order to improve maternal health standards

Though Indonesia is "widely seen as a development success story -- indeed, it is sometimes referred to as one of Asia's 'rising powers' ... in the area of maternal health, the successes have been modest and much remains to be done," Andrew Rosser, associate director of the Indo-Pacific Governance Research Centre at the University of Adelaide, writes in an Inside Indonesia opinion piece.

4 Jul 2012

Annual report on MDGs shows success in some areas, but continued lack of progress in other areas, including maternal health

"An annual report card on the ambitious U.N.-led initiative known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) says that in three areas -- poverty, slums and water -- the goals have been met ahead of the 2015 deadline, but persistent gaps remain, notably in the critical area of maternal health," Inter Press Service reports.

4 Jul 2012

International observers hopeful about Malawian President Banda's agenda for maternal health

"Any new president has a vast array of items on his or her agenda, but newly inaugurated Malawian President Joyce Hilda Banda has elevated a praise-worthy agenda for maternal health at the very outset of her time in office," Alisha Kramer, a research assistant at the Center For Strategic & International Studies' (CSIS) Global Health Policy Center, writes in this post in the center's "Smart Global Health" blog.

26 Jun 2012

Family planning summit should address range of influences on maternal health

In this post on RH Reality Check, Marianne Mollmann, senior policy adviser with Amnesty International, addresses an upcoming summit in London on family planning funding, which is being co-hosted by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the U.K. Department for International Development and supported by USAID and UNFPA.

25 Jun 2012

London family planning summit 'must be about enabling women to choose'

"As the London family planning summit looms closer, the debate begins over how much money is needed, what it should pay for and whether the fundamentally important issues of women's reproductive rights will be addressed," Sarah Boseley, health editor of the Guardian, writes in her "Global Health Blog."

22 Jun 2012

Researchers outline strategy and benchmarks to curb childhood preventable deaths

Preventable childhood deaths caused by illnesses such as pneumonia and diarrhea can be nearly eliminated in 10 years according to researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the National Institutes of Health. In a new commentary featured in the June issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers outline a strategy and benchmarks for curbing childhood preventable deaths and recommend a new common vision for a global commitment to end all preventable child deaths.

15 Jun 2012

Ugandan civil organizations ask Supreme Court to declare death during childbirth violates women's rights

In an effort to lower the maternal mortality rate in Uganda, activists from more than 50 civil service organizations on Tuesday asked the country's Supreme Court "to declare that women's rights are violated when they die in childbirth," which could help make the government put more resources toward maternal health care and lower the rate of maternal deaths, currently about 100 per week, the Associated Press/Fox News reports.

15 Jun 2012

Family planning summit next month 'could mark turning point for maternal health'

In this post in the Guardian's "Poverty Matters" blog, U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin discusses a family planning summit to be held in London next month, writing the UNFPA "is supporting the initiative so that it can gain traction and support among other donors and UN member countries."

8 Jun 2012

Preterm birth rates over past 20 years only dropped in 3 countries

Nearly 15 million babies were born prematurely in 2010—more than one in ten of all births. Sixty percent of these premature babies were born in south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, but this is not just a problem of the poorest nations: the USA (517 000 preterm births) and Brazil (279 300) ranked in the top ten countries with the highest number of premature births in 2010. Worse still, over the past 20 years preterm birth rates have decreased in just three countries, according to the first ever national level estimates and time series published in this week’s Lancet.

8 Jun 2012

Aid agencies should support journalists to increase their ability to make a difference in developing countries

In this post in the Guardian's "Poverty Matters" blog, Prue Clarke, an Africa correspondent, media development specialist and the co-founder and executive director of New Narratives -- Africans Reporting Africa, writes, "By not supporting journalists, aid agencies are severely limiting their access to the truth about what is happening in developing countries and, therefore, their ability to make a difference."

8 Jun 2012

U.S., Norway announce new private-public initiative to improve maternal health in developing countries

Speaking at a health conference in Norway on Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the United States would provide $75 million a new private-public effort, dubbed "Saving Mothers, Giving Life," which aims "to improve the health of mothers and their babies in developing countries," Agence France-Presse reports.

5 Jun 2012

Yawning gulf between maternal mortality policies and implementation

As the UN Special Rapporteur on maternal mortality in India points out there is a 'yawning gulf between commendable maternal mortality policies and their urgent, focused, sustained, systematic and effective implementation', the May issue of Reproductive Health Matters explores the causes and impact of this gap, but also highlights hopeful signs of progress.

2 Jun 2012

Sixty-fifth World Health Assembly covers some of the biggest challenges facing public health

The Sixty-fifth World Health Assembly concluded Saturday after adopting 21 resolutions and three decisions on a broad range of health issues. The six days of discussions involved nearly 3000 delegates, including health ministers and senior health officials from amongst the 194 WHO Member States, as well as representatives from civil society and other stakeholders.

28 May 2012

Maternal Health News and Research

U.S. government, World Bank launch initiatives to collect more, better data on women worldwide

VOA examines maternal mortality in South Sudan one year after independence

Gates Foundation's efforts to improve access to contraceptives will improve health, lives of women, children

Blog posts address London Summit on Family Planning

Satisfying unmet need for contraception could reduce maternal deaths by 30%

Family planning is central to global development according to new evidence in the Lancet

Childbearing may reduce mortality in later life

Indonesia must work to empower women in order to improve maternal health standards

Annual report on MDGs shows success in some areas, but continued lack of progress in other areas, including maternal health

International observers hopeful about Malawian President Banda's agenda for maternal health

Family planning summit should address range of influences on maternal health

London family planning summit 'must be about enabling women to choose'

Researchers outline strategy and benchmarks to curb childhood preventable deaths

Ugandan civil organizations ask Supreme Court to declare death during childbirth violates women's rights

Family planning summit next month 'could mark turning point for maternal health'

Preterm birth rates over past 20 years only dropped in 3 countries

Aid agencies should support journalists to increase their ability to make a difference in developing countries

U.S., Norway announce new private-public initiative to improve maternal health in developing countries

Yawning gulf between maternal mortality policies and implementation

Sixty-fifth World Health Assembly covers some of the biggest challenges facing public health

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