GMNHC2015 Series

By: Katie Millar, Senior Project Manager, Women and Health Initiative, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Empowerment of women has been a theme throughout the Global Maternal Newborn Health Conference (GMNHC). Without the ability to choose and…

By: Sandeep Bathala, Senior Program Associate, Maternal Health Initiative, Wilson Center Maternal mortality causes 56,000 deaths every year in India, accounting for 20 percent of maternal deaths around the world. Women who are born into the lower…

By: Sandeep Bathala, Senior Program Associate, Maternal Health Initiative, Wilson Center Obstetric fistula is a devastating childbirth injury caused by prolonged obstructed labor. It can lead to incontinence and infection, social stigmatization as…

By: Katie Millar, Senior Project Manager, Women and Health Initiative, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health It is well accepted that midwives are well-positioned to save women and newborn’s lives. In fact, a well-trained midwife can deliver 87% of…

By: Sarah Blake, MHTF consultant The panel discussion on Mexico’s ongoing efforts to strengthen midwifery began with an introduction from Paloma Bonfil of the Interdisciplinary Group on Women, Work and Poverty. She characterized the task of members of…

By: Katie Millar, Senior Project Manager, Women and Health Initiative, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) and Ministries of Health of Sri Lanka, Rwanda and Ethiopia gathered yesterday to discuss an…

By: Kelsey Holt, Senior Project Manager, Women and Health Initiative, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Pregnant women who do not wish to—or aren’t able to—carry pregnancies to term have been largely absent in discussions at the GMNHC in…

By: Kate Ramsey, Columbia University AMDD Last week, a report of a horrifying incident in a maternity ward appeared in my email inbox. A woman was beaten by a health provider as she died on the floor while delivering in a health facility. When it…

By: Amy Boldosser-Boesch, Interim President and CEO, Family Care International The year 2015 has been one of dramatic movement for global maternal and newborn health—from the end of the Millennium Development Goals to the beginning of a universal and…

By: John Grove, Senior Program Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Lara Vaz, Senior Advisor, Save the Children “Hello, is anyone home?” asks a young woman from outside a home in Dire Dawa, wearing a T-shirt identifying her as part…