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The Best and Worst States to Have a Baby
I write about maternal health a lot on Social Good Moms and sometimes I don’t write enough about newborn health. I saw some interesting information this month about the best and worst states to have a baby and thought the data was interesting to share. The data was compiled by Wallet Hub. They compared the…
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NEW: Drug That Prevents PostPartum Hemorrhage Added To WHO Essential Medicines List
As I have written many times before postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) or excessive uterine bleeding after childbirth is the leading cause of maternal mortality in low-and-middle income countries. The recommended drug to prevent PPH according to the World Health Organization (WHO) is oxytocin. When administered in its recommended dose it causes little to no side effects.…
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A Pregnancy Series You Can Really Binge on Facebook Watch
After recently receiving a press release about a pregnancy docuseries on Facebook Watch I have been hooked! As a maternal health advocate, it takes a lot to stop me in my tracks, but 9 Months With Courteney Cox has really opened my eyes on the realities of pregnancy in America. After all, it has been twenty…
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11 Maternal Health Organizations to Support This Year
Maternal mortality continues to be a major problem the world over. The United States is the only developed country where maternal death rates are increasing especially for non-Hispanic black women. And in low-and-middle income countries, approximately 830 women die each day from pregnancy-related, preventable causes.
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Suffering in silence: how Kenyan women live with profound childbirth injuries
Shutterstock Kathomi Gatwiri, Southern Cross University Sasha is 22-years-old. She was married off when she was just nine and by the time she was 11, she was pregnant with her first child, and unprepared for childbirth. So when labor came, in the middle of the night – in her geographically isolated village in rural Kenya…
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Europe Is Tackling Its Own Maternal Health Issues. Here’s Why. #MakeMotherhoodCount
We know that women in low-and-middle income countries are especially prone to maternal mortality. Those of us of who write about maternal health and keep up with worldwide maternal health, mortality, and morbidity statistics understand that in the world’s poorest countries we find the worst outcomes for both mothers and their infants. In recent years,…
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Kenya Maternity Fee Waiver is Great – But There are Still Gaps in the Policy
Kenya’s pregnancy policy hasn’t addressed the inequalities between rich and poor. Shutterstock Estelle Monique Sidze, African Population and Health Research Center About 21 pregnant women die every day in Kenya due to complications from childbirth. That’s equivalent to two 10-seater commuter micro minibuses, known as matatus, crashing every day with the loss of all the…
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Finnish Fashion Designer Creates Maternity Wear for 12-Year-Olds to Highlight Worldwide Child Pregnancy
Child pregnancy is a worldwide blight. Seven million girls in developing countries under the age of 18 become pregnant every year meaning that they have to grow up too soon, put an end to their education, look for adequate healthcare that they can afford, earn money somehow, possibly marry a much older suitor, and figure out…
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Why Kenya Needs to Adopt ‘Milk Banks’ to Reduce Infant Deaths
Elizabeth Kimani-Murage, Brown University Mother’s milk has an enormous impact on child survival. While in Kenya it has improved over the past decade, the number of children who die before five years remains significant. The rate has decreased from 115 per 1000 live births in 2003 to 52 in 2014. Neighbors Rwanda (2008), Tanzania (2012)…
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How World Vision Promotes Breastfeeding in the Philippines
I am always happy when World Breastfeeding Week rolls around each year. It gives me a chance to hear about the latest programs that are working around the world to increase breastfeeding rates. This year I learned about how World Vision is promoting breastfeeding in the Philippines through its 7-11 Core Intervention Framework which includes 7 interventions for women…
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How a Breastfeeding Initiative in Rural Kenya Changed Attitudes
Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended up to 6 months of age. Alissa Everett/Reuters Judith Kimiywe, Kenyatta University and Elizabeth Kimani-Murage, Brown University There’s a growing global recognition of proper infant nutrition in the child’s first 1000 days of life. This can be monitored through encouraging proper nutrition during pregnancy and the first two years of life…
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Why Family Planning Matters for Maternal Deaths and Child Survival
Contraception empowers women to plan the number of children they will have. Tizta Tilahun Degfie, African Population and Health Research Center Family planning improves child survival and reduces maternal deaths. But the uptake of family planning in Africa is only 33%, nearly half the world average of 64%. The contraceptive prevalence rate in African countries…
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Ensuring Safer Pregnancies for Kenyan Women in Urban Slums
Antenatal care is important during pregnancy. Reuters Blessing Mberu, African Population and Health Research Center; Kanyiva Muindi, African Population and Health Research Center, and Patricia Elungata, McGill University Globally, there’s a general decline in the number of women who die from pregnancy or childbirth complications. However in Kenya, it remains high at 488 deaths per…
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Recent Thoughts on Global Maternal Health
As an ardent supporter and advocate for maternal health, I am always happy to share my thoughts about the issue with a wider audience. I recently shared my thoughts with Merck for Mothers, a 10-year $500 million initiative supporting women during pregnancy and childbirth. RT if you agree with @JenniferJames. We must work to #EndMaternalMortality. pic.twitter.com/UXKNyE3rdb…
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Increasing Caesarean Sections in Africa Could Save More Mothers’ Lives
Shutterstock Salome Maswime, University of the Witwatersrand and Gwinyai Masukume, University of the Witwatersrand Caesarean sections have been lifesaving procedures for hundreds of thousands of women across the world who experience complications during labour. Globally, it’s estimated that just under 20% of births take place via caesarean section – a percentage that’s gone up over…
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[Featured Video] Simple Birth Kit for Mothers in Developing World
Women in low-and-middle-income countries need clean birth kits in order to stave off deadly infections in themselves and their newborns. This is the case not only during home births with midwives but also in institutionalized settings. Zubaida Bai, founder of Ayzh, a social enterprise that creates clean, safe birthing kits for women as well as reproductive, newborn…
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Impress Mom With These Maternal Health Mother’s Day Gift Ideas + Giveaway
Mother’s Day is the perfect holiday to splurge on the moms in your life as well as to support moms around the world. It’s a day to show love for mothers we know and to also remain mindful of the mothers everywhere who may need a little or even a lot of help for them…
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5 Maternal Health Interventions That Save Mothers’ Lives
Every day 800 women die during childbirth or from pregnancy complications. This startling statistic represents women who not only live in sub-Saharan Africa where most maternal deaths occur but also throughout the world. In order to reduce the number of maternal deaths in low- and middle-income countries across the globe design teams, social entrepreneurs, innovators, and…
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Will Trump’s Global Family Planning Cuts Cause Side Effects?
Actress and U.N. Population Fund Goodwill Ambassador Ashley Judd visited a refugee camp in Mafraq, Jordan in 2016. AP Photo/Raad Adayleh Written by Rachel Sullivan Robinson, American University School of International Service President Donald Trump is leading an assault on family planning around the world. Most recently, his administration cut off U.S. contributions to the…
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Midwives and The Right of Women to Give Birth the Way They Want
Lydia Mwanzia, Moi University Giving birth is a significant life event that should aim for a healthy baby and mother. There are growing calls for women to give birth in their preferred birth positions. But this requires midwives to be trained in a way that enables them to respect the choices that women make. The…