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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Ten Arguments for Why Gender Should Be a Central Focus for Universal Health Coverage Advocates
By: Research in Gender and Ethics (RinGs) Steering Committee This post is the first in the Woman-Centered Universal Health Coverage Series, hosted by the Maternal Health Task Force and USAID|TRAction, which discusses the importance of…
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New Jobs in Maternal Health
Looking for a new job? Check out these availabilities in maternal health… read more
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Using Research Findings to Influence Maternal Health Action: An Example From Nigeria
The paper—When Women Deliver with No One Present in Nigeria: Who, what, where and so what, published in MHTF-PLOS Year Two collection—revealed that over one in five births in Nigeria was delivered with no one present (NOP) and 94% of those deliveries occurred in northern Nigeria. To decrease the number of NOP deliveries, authors recommended an increase in women’s access to and control of disposable income through financial incentives and changes to the broader socio-economic fabric. The paper has shaped the discourse on maternal and newborn health in Nigeria in the following contexts: a statewide community-based distribution of misoprostol and chlorhexidine that links mothers to providers, a policy dialogue involving local religious leaders, and a presentation of the results at a panel hosted by Harvard… read more
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Apply to the International Development Design Summit by January 20th!
The International Development Design Summit (IDDS) is an intense, hands-on design experience that brings together people from all walks of life to co-create low cost technologies that improve the livelihoods…
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Study Hopes to Save Lives Through a New Approach to Preterm Birth
Jane Hirst, Nuffield Medical Fellow, University of Oxford, INTERGROWTH-21st Consortium
Preterm birth, or birth before 37 completed weeks of pregnancy, is now the greatest single cause of mortality in children less than 5 years old and is associated with long-term morbidity in survivors. It has been estimated that approximately 15 million babies are born prematurely every year, accounting for 11% of births worldwide… read more -
Improving Birth and Pregnancy Outcomes Through Registries in Southern Ethiopia
Developing countries lack vital registrations that are present in high-income countries. Because of the shortage of such essential information, translating policy into action and monitoring programmes to reduce maternal and neonatal deaths is difficult. As a follow-up to our paper, Maternal and Neonatal Mortality in South-West Ethiopia: Estimates and Socio-Economic Inequality, we developed, validated, and used community-based birth registration in a population of about half a million people in four woredas, or districts, in rural southern Ethiopia. The most important lesson we learnt is that it is possible to obtain high-coverage birth registration and measure maternal mortality in rural communities with trained community health workers…read more
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Emergency Obstetric Referral and Transport in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: The Direction of Travel
Our study called for research to understand how referral and transport interventions work for obstetric emergencies. This research is crucial since decisions to seek care can be deferred or hindered, and even if decisions are rapidly made to seek care, transport may be unavailable or slow. This call has been met with new innovative research assessing key factors that affect the use and uptake of transport in obstetric emergencies and the effect of community-based loan funds to improve the utilization of health facilities for childbirth. Our topic has also received international attention with the World Health Organization supporting an international panel that recently identified research on transport and referral solutions as a priority area to improve maternal and newborn health in low-resource settings…read more
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From Inaction to Advocacy: Placing Women and Children at the Center of Sustainable Development
While a maternal death is devastating in its own right, a mother’s death is not an isolated event; when a mother dies there are immediate and lasting repercussions for her children, her family, and the broader community. As the dawn of the Sustainable Development Goals fast approaches, it is important that we turn to evidence from the Impacts of Maternal Death on Living Children Study to inform advocacy efforts toward the inclusion of women’s reproductive health and gender equality as a central, fundamental part of global development. Check out this blog to view a panel of maternal health experts we convened for a live webcast to discuss the implications of this research and the strategies advocates can use to mobilize influential donors and decision-makers to prioritize investments in sexual and reproductive health… read more
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Launch of Translating Research into Practice Series: Reflections From MHTF-PLOS Collection Authors
Over the last three years, the MHTF has partnered with PLoS to put together an annual collection on maternal health. These open-access collections were curated with the goal of increasing access to comprehensive research to global maternal health practitioners who may not have access to subscription-only journals. In order to evaluate the impact of these collections, we now launch the Translating Research into Practice Series. To create this series, we’ve followed up with authors from these collections to reflect back on their research and what has happened in terms of practice, policy, and further research since their publication. Follow this series over the next few weeks on Tuesdays and Thursdays to hear the authors’ first-hand reflections and how research can be leveraged to create sustainable change… read more
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“Taking Measure of Growth Charts” Published in The Wall Street Journal
By: Alison Chatfield, Project Manager, Maternal Health Task Force, Women and Health Initiative Are newborn growth charts one size fits all? Are growth charts developed based on how babies in…