Today is the 2nd annual International Day of Maternal Health and Rights which calls attention to and demands action for the right of every woman to respectful maternity care no matter where she lives in the world. This is critical because a woman dies in childbirth every two minutes totalling nearly 300,000 maternal deaths each year. Ninety-nine percent of these deaths are wholly preventable.

Many pregnant women are also subject to excessive, disrespectful care including verbal and physical abuse during pregnancy and childbirth as well as denial of care and demands for payment before care.  As these scenarios continue more awareness needs to be made about quality, respectful care for every pregnant woman. It’s their right!

In honor of International Day of Maternal Health and Rights we put together a list of 41 maternal health organizations and organizations that work on other global health efforts of which maternal health is one. Please support and follow them. If we missed your organization, please email us at info@mombloggersforsocialgood.com with your Twitter handle. We plan to make an additional list in the coming weeks.

1. aroadlesstravelled @ARLTafric: Working with nomadic pastoralist communities in Ethiopia & Kenya to improve maternal & child health.

2. ARROW ‏@ARROW_Women: Championing Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights #SRHR #SRHR4all

3. CAN-MNCH @CAN_MNCH: Over 80 organizations working to improve the lives of women, babies and children in over 1,000 regions around the world. Team Canada!

4. CARE(care.org) @CARE: CARE fights global poverty by empowering girls and women. Visit http://CARE.org and join us.

5. CHANGE ‏@genderhealth: The Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE) works to advance the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls worldwide.

6. Doctors Without Border @MSF_USA: Providing medical aid where it’s needed most.

7. Elizabeth Glaser PAF @EGPAF: What started as three moms around a kitchen table is now an international foundation working in more than 7,000 sites in 15 countries.

8. EngenderHealth @EngenderHealth: Global nonprofit organization working to improve sexual and reproductive health for women and girls around the world. Follow our President and CEO @PamWBarnes!

9. Every Mother Counts @everymomcounts: Every Mother Counts is a non-profit organization dedicated to making pregnancy & childbirth safe for every mother. @CTurlington @ETThornton @RunTeamEMC

10. Family Care Intl @familycareintl: FCI works to make pregnancy and childbirth safer; ensure universal access to reproductive health care/information; empower women, young people, and communities
https://twitter.com/familycareintl/status/586872581266939904

11. Hope Healing Hands @hthhglobal: Hope Through Healing Hands’, started by @bfrist, mission is to promote improved quality of life around the world using health as a currency for peace.

12. IDEAS @LSHTM_IDEAS: IDEAS aims to improve the evidence base for future maternal and newborn health programmes in Ethiopia, Nigeria & Uttar Pradesh, India. Funder: @gatesfoundation

13. IntraHealth Int’l @IntraHealth: For 35 years, in 100 countries, IntraHealth has helped health workers serve public health needs through better systems, policy, training & technology.

14. IPPF/WHR @IPPF_WHR: International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region | Federación Internacional de Planificación de la Familia/Región del Hemisferio Occidental

15. IWHC ‏@IntlWomen: The International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC) secures sexual & reproductive rights & health for women & girls around the world. http://iwhc.org
https://twitter.com/IntlWomen/status/586858889586573312

16. Jacaranda Health @jacarandakenya: Building a model for maternal and newborn health.

17. Jhpiego @Jhpiego: An affiliate of @JohnsHopkins, we are saving the lives of #mothers & #families worldwide.

18. Liya Kebede Foundation @LKFound: The Liya Kebede Foundation is a nonprofit foundation that supports safe motherhood initiatives.
https://twitter.com/LKFound/status/582540620847288320

19. MAMA ‏@mamaglobal: MAMA delivers vital health information to new & expectant moms through mobile phones. Partnership of USAID, J&J, UN Foundation & BabyCenter

20. MamaYe ‏@MamaYeAfrica: MamaYe campaigns to make pregnancy and childbirth safe and evidence-based for mothers and their babies across Africa. Join us!

21. Marie Stopes (MSI) @MarieStopes: We deliver quality family planning and reproductive healthcare to millions of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable women. Tweets by Liz, Stuart and Chris.

22. Maternity Worldwide @maternityww: Saving lives in childbirth in sub-Saharan Africa by training midwives, improving access to healthcare and providing communities with maternal health education.

23. MCSPglobal @MCSPglobal: @USAID’s flagship Maternal and Child Survival Program (MCSP) works with a focus on 24 priority countries to end preventable child & maternal deaths. RT ≠ Endors

24. Medici con l’Africa ‏@MediciConAfrica: Medici con l’Africa Cuamm. La salute è un diritto, battersi per il suo rispetto un dovere.

25. MHTF @MHTF: The Maternal Health Task Force, the flagship program of @WHI_Harvard, contributes to shaping collective efforts to improve #maternalhealth worldwide.

26. MSH Policy&Advocacy @MSHACTS: We advocate for sound, evidence-based health policies and increased U.S. and global resources for global health. Part of @MSHHealthImpact

27. Partners in Health @PIH: We believe health is a human right and, through partnership, bring care to those who need it most.

28. Pathfinder Int. ‏@PathfinderInt: Pathfinder International is a global nonprofit dedicated to ensuring sexual and reproductive health care and rights to the people who need it most.

29. Perinatal Task Force @PerinatalTskFrc: The National Perinatal Task Force is a virtual community of people who have a heart for women and children.

30. RH Reality Check ‏@rhrealitycheck: Sexual and reproductive health and justice reporting, analysis, commentary, investigations, action and community.

31. Save the Children US @SavetheChildren: We invest in childhood–every day, in times of crisis & for our future. We give children a healthy start, the opportunity to learn & protection from harm. Follow

32. Save the Mothers @stm_canada: Save The Mothers trains professionals from developing countries to improve mothers’ health.

33. Saving Mothers @savingmothers: Committed to improving maternal health worldwide.

34. SMFM @MySMFM: Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine: High-risk pregnancy experts improving pregnancy outcomes by sharing excellence in care, education, and research.

35. The Partnership @PMNCH: Chaired by Graça Machel, PMNCH unites communities improving the health of women, children, newborns and adolescents.

36. UNFPA @UNFPA: The United Nations Population Fund: Delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth safe, and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.

37. W&HI ‏@WHI_Harvard: Women and Health Initiative at Harvard School of Public Health – addressing current needs and setting the future agenda for women AND health

38. Wellbeing Foundation @wellbeingafrica: Wellbeing Foundation Africa. Updates on Maternal Newborn and Child Health, #MaternalMonday, Rights, Peace & Women Empowerment. http://www.wbfafrica.org

39. WhiteRibbonAlliance @WRAglobal: We are an international coalition working to stop needless deaths in childbirth. Help us TAKE ACTION!

40. Women Deliver @WomenDeliver: Women Deliver is a global nonprofit organization advocating for better health, rights and well-being of girls and women worldwide. Invest in women — it pays!

41. World Vision USA @WorldVisionUSA: Founded in 1950. Serves close to 100 million people in nearly 100 countries worldwide. Find the latest news from World Vision U.S. at http://blog.worldvision.org

Photo: UN Photo/ Mark Garten