Maternal Health Task Force
The Maternal Health Task Force strives to create a strong, well-informed and collaborative community of individuals focused on ending preventable maternal mortality and morbidity worldwide.
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Boston, MA 02115
Blog
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International Day to End Obstetric Fistula: Resource Roundup
While there has been tremendous progress in preventing and treating fistula around the world, ending fistula in all forms requires addressing underlying systemic issues and improving access to high quality maternal health care around the world…read more
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World Preeclampsia Day: Recognizing That Delivery Is a Treatment, Not a Cure
Any woman can develop preeclampsia after delivery, whether she experienced high blood pressure during pregnancy or not. Because the majority of deaths due to preeclampsia happen after the baby is born, it is critical that patients are advised to continue monitoring their health…read more
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Exploring Group Antenatal Care in Low-Resource Settings
Research in high-income countries has shown that compared to the traditional one-on-one model of antenatal care (ANC), group ANC can offer positive health outcomes. To address the evidence gap in low-resource settings, researchers recently developed a “generic” model of group ANC for low- and middle-income countries and conducted a feasibility study in urban India…read more
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Why Research Will Prevail in a Post-Fact World
To end preventable maternal deaths and other persistent global development challenges, we need to work on implementing known solutions that are based on research and proven facts…read more
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Exploring the Barriers and Facilitators of Kangaroo Mother Care
Research suggests that kangaroo mother care (KMC) can significantly reduce deaths in newborns as well as the risk of hypothermia and severe illness. Furthermore, it can lead to improved growth, breastfeeding practices and mother–child bonding. A recent study conducted by Chan and colleagues systematically reviewed the barriers and enablers of KMC within a health system…read more
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How Kangaroo Mother Care Has Improved Newborn Health Outcomes and Supported Moms in Kenya
Kangaroo mother care involves prolonged continuous skin-to-skin contact between a mother or her surrogate and her preterm or low birth weight infant. For stable preterm infants, this low-cost, high-impact intervention has been shown to offer better thermal regulation and greater health benefits compared to conventional care…read more
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New Jobs and Internships in Maternal, Newborn and Child Health
Interested in a position in reproductive, maternal, newborn, child or adolescent health? Every month, the Maternal Health Task Force rounds up job and internship postings from around the globe. This month, we are featuring positions with Save the Children, United Nations Population Fund and the World Health Organization…read more
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Placenta Accreta Spectrum Disorders: A Critical Absence from the Cesarean Section Debate
A critical absence from the recent “cesarean section debate” has been the long-term health impact of excessively high c-section rates—including increased risk of miscarriage, unexplained stillbirth, placenta previa, placenta accreta and abruption in subsequent pregnancies…read more
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International Day of the Midwife: How Integrating Midwifery Care Can Improve Maternal and Newborn Health
The Maternal Health Task Force recently had the pleasure of interviewing Saraswathi Vedam, Principal Investigator, Birth Place Lab, and Associate Professor, Division of Midwifery, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia about her innovative study assessing the integration of midwifery across the United States…read more
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Addressing the Maternal Mental Health Diagnosis Gap Through Screening Tools in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
There is a dearth of mental health screening tools validated for use in low-resource settings among pregnant women, specifically in Africa. To address this research gap, a study recently published in PLOS ONE by Heyningen et al. examined the reliability and feasibility of five screening tools to diagnose Major Depressive Episode and/or anxiety in a South African primary care antenatal clinic…read more