Archive: Sep 2017

How do developing countries facing severe shortages in well-trained, equitably distributed health workers ensure access to high quality maternal health care for all women? There are several potential solutions that may be feasible in the short-term,…

How have program implementers, clinicians and researchers approached the issue of providing culturally-appropriate maternity care, and what challenges have they encountered? A recent paper in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth aimed to answer these…

World Contraception Day is an opportunity to remember that in many parts of the world, a large gap persists between women’s reproductive intentions and their access to family planning options. Integrating family planning services into maternal health…

We are excited to announce that the Obstetric Emergency Drills Training Kit, a free resource available for clinicians worldwide, is now available in French! The Obstetric Emergency Drills Trainer’s Manual and accompanying resources were developed by the…

Reducing the global maternal mortality ratio (MMR) to less than 70 deaths per 100,000 live births through national reduction of MMR by two-thirds in all countries by 2030 and reducing inequities in maternal survival within and among countries will be…

Over the past decade, India has implemented several programs with the aim of improving maternal health nationwide, but the latest data reveal that progress has been inconsistent. Rapid urbanization and migration into India's cities has overwhelmed the…

In August 2017, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health hosted a seminar featuring Beena Varghese, Senior Health Economist at the Public Health Foundation of India, who presented findings from a study she led in Rajasthan, India to examine the…

13 September is World Sepsis Day, an opportunity for the global health community to recognize the burden of this morbidity and build momentum for prompt action. Sepsis, which is a result of the body’s response to infection, is responsible for roughly 11%…

The United Nations Population Fund estimates that 1.7 million women affected by the conflict in Nigeria are of reproductive age, and some 276,000 of these women are likely to become pregnant this year. The violence has left more than 40% of health…

Despite achieving a 70% reduction in its national maternal mortality ratio between 1990 and 2015, Bangladesh has had difficulty finding solutions for geographic and socioeconomic differences in maternal death rates. A recent paper examined the impact of…