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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Blog
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12 New Jobs in Maternal Health
Featured career opportunity: Chief Operating Officer: Jacaranda Health is expanding, and we are in search of an extraordinary person – a COO to be based in Kenya and help lead our team as we…
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The MHTF Celebrates International Women’s Day!
This year, International Women’s Day is inspiring action with the theme “Make it Happen”! Every day on March 8th, organizations and people around the world turn their thoughts and efforts to women as we celebrate their strength and power and work to address the disparities and challenges they still face. In commemoration of this day, the MHTF wants to share with you, our maternal health community, resources that will help us reflect on the tremendous impact women have on shaping health and society… read more
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Professional Development Opportunities in Global Health
The Maternal Health Task Force works to build a strong maternal health community. That strength starts with you! Here are a few opportunities that you may find helpful in your career: 1) Global Public Health Course, 2) Because Tomorrow Needs Her (Webcast) and 3) Putting Mothers and Babies First: Benefits Across a Lifetime (Webcast)… read more
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How to Improve Respectful Maternity Care Through Community Engagement
In 2014 it was estimated that only 15% of Ethiopian women deliver in a health facility. In order to engage the community in improving the quality of healthcare, participatory community quality improvement (PCQI) was implemented. As facility delivery was discussed in PCQI meetings, it became clear that quality of care was a significant concern in the community. Women said that they felt they were not treated respectfully when they went to health facilities; though at home, traditional birth attendants — who know the community and its culture — treated them much better. Of course, the health outcomes are worse when women deliver at home, especially when women require emergency obstetric care. Our goal, in collaboration with the government, is to increase the number of women delivering with trained health care workers in facilities… read more
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As Humanitarian Crises Multiply, Maternal Health and Safety of Women Becoming a Focus
Accessing maternal health care is already a challenge in many countries, and when conflict erupts or a disaster strikes, it can get even worse, leaving millions of women on their own while at their most vulnerable, said Ugochi Daniels, chief of humanitarian response for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Women and girls also become more vulnerable to violence during times of crisis, she said, by virtue of nothing but their gender. Daniels and other experts discussed efforts by humanitarian agencies to better address maternal health and gender-based violence in crisis settings at the Wilson Center on November 20, supported by the Maternal Health Task Force and UNFPA… read more
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Margaret Kruk Joins the MHTF: Strengthening Health Systems for Women
I sat down with Margaret Kruk, who recently joined our team at the MHTF, to talk about her career, how health systems can better serve women, the power of social media, and her hopes for the future… read more
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Critical Next Steps for the Maternal Health Community
As we reflect on lessons learned from the MDGs and set strategies for improving global maternal health, it’s time to identify what has worked and what more is needed to not only avert preventable maternal deaths, but also provide quality health care for every woman. In a paper published today, Tamil Kendall, a post-doctoral fellow of the Maternal Health Task Force, summarizes priorities for maternal health research in low- and middle-income countries based on three broad questions she asked 26 maternal health researchers from five continents… read more
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New Jobs in Maternal Health
Every other Friday we bring to you some of the latest job openings in maternal and reproductive health from various geographies. Check out the latest postings below: Consultancy Research Monitoring…
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Emerging Priorities for Maternal Health in Nigeria: Surveying the Field
By: Katrina Braxton, Program Assistant, The Wilson Center’s Maternal Health Initiative “Nigeria’s population is only two percent of the world population, but we contribute about 10 percent of the maternal…
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HIV Health Services Associated With Better Prenatal and Postnatal Care for All Women
Investment in HIV services may improve quality of prenatal and postnatal care. At the facility level, the mere presence of HIV treatment services was associated with higher quality prenatal and postnatal care, shows a new study in the American Journal of Public Health. Researchers from Columbia University, the CDC and Kenyan public health institutions, analyzed data from 560 hospitals and clinics in Kenya, a country with a high maternal mortality ratio, to compare the quality of prenatal, postnatal, and delivery services in facilities that had HIV treatment services and those that did not. The researchers found that the existence of PMTCT and ART treatment programs was associated with significantly increased quality in prenatal and postnatal care, irrespective of HIV status. However, quality of delivery care was similar across the two settings… read more