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When You Start Knowing Women Who Have Passed Away After Childbirth
A few years ago a family member died unexpectedly after childbirth. Her passing completely wrecked her family and they still have not recovered from her loss. And recently I learned of the recent passing of another mother who died immediately after childbirth. She was a community activist and focused her efforts on maternal health issues.…
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President Signed the Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act of 2024
My sweet mother always told me about her many births. In all, four of us lived, but many did not. Several of my would-be brothers and sisters passed away from still or crib birth. Some were named and some were not. My mother has always been extremely powerful to share her birth experiences with me…
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New Law Bans Child Marriage in Sierra Leone
Photo by Majkl Velner on Unsplash This month Sierra Leone banned child marriage and laid out severe punishments for those engaging in marrying girls and boys off before their 18th birthday. 30 percent of girls in Sierra Leone are married before 18. More girls can focus on furthering their education instead of starting families at…
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Breaking: Supreme Court Ruling Allows Mifepristone to Stay on the Market
The Supreme Court unanimously ruled today that FDA-approved mifepristone can stay on the market. That is, mifepristone can still be prescribed by physicians and accessed by telehealth and mail-order. The Court stayed the lower courts’ decision to ban the use of the pill stating that the plaintiffs lack standing. We recognize that many citizens, including…
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Pending Reproductive Health Decisions on the Supreme Court Docket
Supreme Court decisions are expected this month about legal doctor and mail-order prescriptions of the FDA-approved abortion pill, mifepristone, as well as whether health practitioners can provide pregnant patients with stabilizing emergency services such as an abortion where appropriate and essential for stabilization or survival.
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Baylor University Conducts In-Person, Virtual Training to Save Mothers, Babies
Baylor College of Medicine has performed substantive work in The Gambia to instruct frontline health workers on maternal and child health through its “Training of Trainers” and GOALL (Gambian Obstetrics Anesthesia Learning and Leadership) programs. With the ninth-highest maternal mortality rate, access to quality health care for women of reproductive age in The Gambia is…
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Kenya’s healthcare workers abuse a third of teen mums from informal settlements – study
Anthony Idowu Ajayi, African Population and Health Research Center and Caroline W. Kabiru, African Population and Health Research Center Adolescent pregnancy is a global public health concern: in 2022, about 13% of girls and young women gave birth before the age of 18. Compared with women in their early 20s, adolescents are more susceptible to…
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Nonprofit Works to Eradicate Poverty Through Business, Not Charity
I have had the pleasure of reporting from low-income countries in east Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean many times and have seen a multitude of poverty eradication efforts from organizations that are created by social entrepreneurs to those that are funded by foundations, corporations and countries’ developmental aid. No matter the organizations’ efforts, there are…
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How health workers in Kibera are assessing sick children using a new digital health tool
By Maryanne W. Waweru l maryanne@mummytales.com Nairobi, Kenya, East Africa. After two days of nursing her two-year-old daughter at home, an anxious Maximilla Kangahi made her way to a clinic in her neighbourhood for help. At the health facility, Maximilla was received by Waida Kasaya, clinical officer at the Beyond Zero clinic in Karanja, one of Kibera’s 18…
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How the U.S. promotes gender equality around the world
UNESCO recognizes October 11 as International Day of the Girl Child to promote girls’ empowerment and human rights. Above, girls attend a class in Kolkata, India, February 11. (© Indranil Aditya/NurPhoto/Getty Images) The United States works with international partners to advance gender equity and equality around the world. Speaking on the sidelines of the U.N.…
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Saving lives with medical oxygen in Kenya
For Sandra Karimi, a nurse at Wangige Hospital in Kenya, treating patients during the COVID-19 pandemic felt like working in a war zone.
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2022’s Best and Worst States for Women’s Equity
With Women’s Equality Day around the corner and the U.S. ranking as only the 27th best country for gender equality, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2022’s Best & Worst States for Women’s Equality. In order to determine where women receive the most equal treatment in American society, WalletHub compared the 50 states…
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3 Teas and Coffee Brands That Support Women
With all that is going on in the world, helping women through our everyday consumer actions is a way we can make a difference in their lives. While we can’t all take to the streets in protest or write impassioned letters to our senators or even donate to a cause every month, we can divert…
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Help Nordstrom Give 40,000 Back-to-School Shoes to Kids in Need
This year from August 11 through October 15, Nordstrom customers can get involved in its 12th annual Shoes That Fit campaign with a goal of raising $1 million and donating 40,000 shoes to kids in need. Each back-to-school season Nordstrom partners with Shoes That Fit and Nike to provide properly fitted athletic shoes to children…
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Kansas Scores Victory for Abortion Rights
In the first statewide referendum after the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, Kansas voters overwhelmingly voted to protect abortion rights. Before yesterday’s primaries polls suggested an abortion ban would ultimately prevail in Republican-led Kansas. Still, even in some of the most conservative counties, “no” votes outpaced overall votes for Republican candidates. With a massive…
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Why sexual and reproductive law for east African countries is being resisted
Anthony Idowu Ajayi, African Population and Health Research Center and Nicholas Okapu Etyang, African Population and Health Research Center Six of the countries of the East African Community – Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania – recently concluded public hearings on a new sexual and reproductive health bill. Proponents of the bill argue…
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Holocaust Remembrance Day Marks Increase in Antisemitism in the United States
On this year’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, Yom Hashoah, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) marks an all-time high in antisemitism in the United States. In its 2021 Audit of Antisemitism, 2717 incidents were recorded last year including assaults, vandalism, and harassment. 2021’s antisemitic incidents are up 34 percent. It is the highest number on record since the…
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From Boots to Baby Brands: 7 Gifts That Give Back With Every Purchase
There is never a bad time to give gifts especially when those gifts give back with every purchase. Here are seven products from boots to baby and kids’ brands and more that have an added component of social good. These companies give back to nonprofits that help kids and even honeybees. ROMA BOOTS Price: $12.99-$118 ROMA…
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Idaho Lawmakers Send Texas Copycat 6-Week Abortion Ban to Governor’s Desk
Women, pregnant people, and reproductive rights activists are reeling about the nation’s latest blow to abortion rights. Yesterday, Idaho became the first state to pass a copycat abortion ban that successfully became law in Texas last year. Now, the Idaho bill is on its way to the desk of Idaho governor, Brad Little, to officially…
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Donate to These 5 Organizations to Help Ukraine
As the Russian military continues to move to take over Ukraine’s largest cities many, some say as high as 870,000, are frantically heading for border countries or are holed up in bomb shelters or in their homes and apartments. Ukraine has said that 2000 civilians have already died since the Russian invasion and long lines…