Maternal Health

During the past month, I’ve been reading Half the Sky, a new book by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn that features stories of women who have overcome extreme adversity—sexual violence, poverty, illness, and fistula—not only surviving, but charting a…

Here at the Maternal Health Task Force, we were all very moved by this stark and realistic photo essay taken by Marco Vernaschi at the Simao Mendes Central Hospital in Guinea- Bissau which was published yesterday by the New York Times. To look at these…

On Monday, the Huffington Post published an article written by Dr. Ana Langer, President of EngenderHealth and Advisor to the MHTF, describing family planning as a key preventive measure against maternal mortality. According to experts, over 70,000…

Last week, a three-day Non-Governmental Organization Forum on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Development convened 400 delegates from 131 countries in Berlin to assess progress on the 15th anniversary of the Programme of Action that emanated from the…

Thank you to everyone who participated in our survey! Here are some of the results (click on the thumbnails for larger images): Over half of you reading our site are Academicians/Researchers/Professors (27%) or NGO Staff/Aid Workers (27%). When…

MHTF Advisory Group member Justus Hofmeyr and colleagues have published a review in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization of the evidence on the effects of misoprostol for the prevention and treatment of postpartum hemorrhage. The review includes…

IMMPACT project at the University of Aberdeen has asked the MHTF to circulate the message below to members. Immpact is currently undertaking a rapid, scoping review of the literature to identify lessons learnt and work underway relevant to the content…

The maternal mortality ratio is Swaziland is 589 deaths per 100,000 live births, according to the 2009 State of the Swaziland Population report. Two months ago, the Japanese government gave a grant of $2.57 million for the next three years to Swaziland…

The Population Reference Bureau recently released figures showing that the global population will reach seven billion in 2011, a year earlier than expected. According to the experts, this population growth is likely to hinder the successful attainment of…

On August 23rd, the New York Times Sunday Magazine will publish a special issue devoted to women in the developing world. The lead article is an excerpt from Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn’s book “Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for…