SOS Children’s Villages

“More than 85 per cent of women aged between 15 and 49 in Mali have been circumcised, a practice that has many harmful physical and psychological effects. Across the world, the figure is up to 140 million women and girls in 28 countries, especially in Africa and the Middle East. ‘The female genital mutilation or cutting poses immediate and long-term consequences for the health of women and girls and violates their human rights’, the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday, before the International Day against Female Genital Mutilation.
The mobile cinema, backed by UNICEF, turned Djènèba Doumbia’s attitudes on the practice on their head. Since seeing the film, she no longer supports female cutting and now does not want to pass the tradition on to the daughters of the community. ‘I tell all women not to circumcise their daughters, to leave them as they are, because we realize that the disadvantages of this practice are numerous and real,’ said Ms Doumbia. ‘So if they let the girls be, the whole family benefits.’ Women at the aftershow discussion hear how those who have been cut are more likely than uncut women to have complications in and after childbirth…”

Read the full story here.

“During the Bush administration, conservatives opposed even the use of the term “reproductive health services.” U.S. support for family planning abroad declined significantly. Now Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says that under the Obama administration, millions of women worldwide will have greater access to family planning, contraception and HIV counseling and treatment.”

Listen to the story here.

Cocorioko

“Dr Kisito Daoh, chief medical officer of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, said the implementation of a maternal death review had been essential due to the high number of women dying every day. Since the beginning of the programme, the death rate has fallen from 30 fatalities a day to five, he claimed. Even so, Dr Daoh said this figure remains too high, and the government is committed to further reductions. He insisted that the fight against maternal death is part of President Koroma’s agenda for change in Sierra Leone…”

Read more here.

Amnesty International

In five days, the organization will release a report on the state of maternal health in Burkina Faso and launch a caravan campaign that will travel throughout the country raising awareness around the issue of maternal mortality.

“Amnesty International went to Burkina Faso four times to conduct research in several cities including the capital, Ouagadougou, as well as Bobo-Dioulasso, Ouahigouya and Kaya. Amnesty International also visited a dozen rural areas throughout the country. Researchers investigated over 50 cases of women who died during pregnancy and childbirth…”

Read the full story here.

Take a look at this video showing highlights of the 2009 Amnesty International maternal mortality caravan campaign in Sierra Leone:

As part of the countdown to the launch of the campaign, Amnesty International is sharing the stories of women who have died of pregnancy complications in Burkina Faso. See below for an excerpt from one of the stories:

“…Safiatou’s husband told Amnesty International: ‘The day of her delivery, she was in good health and worked all afternoon as usual without any problem. She prepared tô [a local dish made from maize flour] for her children and went to get the hay for the animals. In the evening, when her labour began, she left for her mother’s home. Her mother came to warn me that she was not well, that we had to take her to the clinic. I do not have a motorcycle, so I had to go and get one. That made us lose time.’ The husband added that he ‘did not know that she should have delivered at the clinic. When I came to fetch her at her mother’s house, she had lost consciousness.’ The husband borrowed a small motorcycle from his neighbour…”

Learn more about Safiatou here.

A man holding a picture of his wife who died in childbirth, Burkina Faso. Copyright Anna Kari

The RHRC Consortium

The RHRC Consortium calls on humanitarian actors to meet the needs of women and girls—including the 63,000  pregnant women in Port au Prince.  (Other organizations have put the estimate lower at 37,000.) The RHRC estimates that 7,000 will deliver in the coming month.

The statement includes calls to action on issues of safe delivery,  sexual violence and exploitation, HIV/AIDS, and family planning.

Click here to read their full statement.

“The March of Dimes has made a grant to UNICEF to help thousands of pregnant women, mothers and babies in Haiti imperiled by the devastating earthquake and its aftermath.

‘The March of Dimes is deeply concerned about the thousands of pregnant women and moms caring for infants in Haiti, especially extremely fragile premature babies’ said Dr. Jennifer L. Howse, president of the March of Dimes.  ’Many babies and young children have been separated from their families, others are feared orphaned.’

The March of Dimes special gift of $100,000 will help Haitian women who are pregnant or breastfeeding and babies who are in dire need of proper nutrition, safe water, and safe ways to prepare infant formula, as well as supplies such as diapers and clothing…”

The article also points out several of the long-term needs of women and babies in Haiti including prenatal and newborn care, specialized care and equipment for an expected rise in premature births, multivitamins with folic acid for women of childbearing age, etc.

Read the full story here.

IRIN Humanitarian News and Analysis

“In Veil of Tears, a 60-page colour booklet launched today, IRIN brings you a unique collection of personal stories of loss and courage in childbirth, as told by women, men and children from different parts of Afghanistan.

The stories were originally recorded in local languages, Dari and Pashto, for IRIN Radio broadcasts. Transcribed into English in Veil of Tears, they convey the immediacy and intimacy of the interviews conducted by IRIN reporters, who travelled in some cases for several days to reach the remotest villages in Afghanistan.

The interviewees in the booklet talk about the struggle to get enough nutritious food to sustain a woman through pregnancy, and to feed their families on any given day; they describe the awesome distances and terrain that separate people living in the villages from the nearest health facility; they describe the lack of proper roads and transport that may leave a donkey cart as the only option to attempt a life-or-death journey with a pregnant wife or mother to a hospital; they explain the cultural and social rules that might mean decisions by men are made too late to save a woman and her baby…”

Read the full story here.

Click here for a PDF of the Veil of Tears.

UN News Center

“WHO is helping to collect data on the health impact of the earthquake and is also deploying a 12-member team comprising experts in mass casualty management, coordination of emergency health response and the management of dead bodies.

UNICEF, whose offices have been badly damaged, said it will help children continue their schooling and provide safe play areas while their caretakers rebuild their lives.

Meanwhile, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) cautioned that thousands of women at risk from complications and death related to pregnancy and childbirth are in danger due to the earthquake.

Haiti has the highest maternal mortality rates in the region, with 670 deaths per 100,000 live births, and this figure is set to skyrocket due to yesterday’s powerful tremors…”

Read the full story here.

For a list of organizations you can contribute to who are helping in Haiti, click here.

Make a donation now via text message:

Text “Haiti” to 90999 – donates $10 to the Red Cross

Text “Yele” to 501501 – donates $5 to YELE HAITI

Every video shared raises $1 for Pathfinder International programs—-up to $1 million. Visit the Girl2Woman site to see more information about the initiative and an interactive time line that outlines stages of life and highlights the work that Pathfinder International does to help women at each stage. At the Girl2Woman site, you can also fill out a form to share the video with your contacts.

To learn more about Pathfinder International, click here.

Global Health Magazine

“Ecuador has the highest adolescent fertility rate in Latin America, and this skyrockets when we’re talking about rural or indigenous youth. Among community members in the region here, just 6 percent of women and 12 percent of men reported contraceptive use, while less than half of all women reported any knowledge of sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

This program meets the needs of a particularly underserved and hard-to-reach group, with a new contraceptive method, in a new way. The peer promoters hail from 15 different small communities within the region and are providing a brand new range of services to their peers. They meet weekly at a central clinic location to discuss challenges and attend trainings. There, CEMOPLAF also provides lunch, transportation costs and job-skills training.

All promoters attend a four-part extensive training, including an introduction to injections in general; training on Depo Provera in particular; and training in bio-safety procedures. They also learn about other contraceptive options, like the pill and condoms…”

Read the full story here.

For more information on Planned Parenthood Federation of America, click here.

To learn more about CEMOPLAF, click here.

Click here to see a previous post on this blog about a policy discussion at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington DC on health workers and task-shifting.

“In January 2010, IRIN will be launching a 60-page photo booklet on maternal mortality issues in Afghanistan, entitled Veil of Tears. The booklet is a collection of transcribed audio testimonies on loss in childbirth, as told by Afghan women, men and children, interviewed by the IRIN Radio team from 2005-2009. This collection of intimate stories gives a unique insight into today’s Afghanistan, and serves to showcase some of the important work of the IRIN Radio project…”

Read the full story here.

Visit the IRIN Humanitarian News and Analysis website here.

ICPD called on governments and development agencies to place human beings—specifically young people and women—at the very heart of the development process. The conference also called for family planning, reproductive health, basic health and education needs to be met.

Millennium Development Goal 5 aims to improve international maternal health by reducing maternal mortality by 2/3 and achieving universal access to reproductive health services by 2015.

“On Jan. 8, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will address hundreds of health and development leaders at the State Department to reaffirm the U.S. government’s commitment to achieving universal access to reproductive health for individual health, family well-being, broader economic development and a healthy planet.”

The speech is scheduled for 2:30 pm Friday, January 8, 2010.

The Secretary’s speech will be livestreamed at www.icpd2015.org.

For more information on the goals of ICPD and events marking the 15th anniversary, click here.

The films, produced by Communicating for Change (CFC), were shot in the ‘Nollywood’ style which involves a combination of suspense and drama—but the project team also included health expert script consultants, Dr Boniface Oye Adeniran, Obstetrician/Gynecologist of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) and Dr Babatunde Ahonsi, formerly of the Ford Foundation.

“The films: Too Young, Too Far, and Too Late, take a provocative look at the life-threatening conditions that pregnant women face in Nigeria while also revealing their struggles with matters of bias against gender, abortion and childbirth as well as the corresponding challenges faced by husbands, boyfriends and families, who have to deal with their own hopes, frustrations and fears.”

Read the full story about Too Young, Too Far, and Too Late here.

For more information about Communicating for Change, click here.

Vernaschi’s project is tracking the story of extremely  limited access to quality health care in Guinea-Bissau, with a focus on the issue of maternal mortality.

Take a look at his photo essay that uses images to expose what  life and death are like for pregnant women in Guinea-Bissau. These photos are some of the most powerful I have ever seen.

Click here to see the photo essay.

Also, take a look at this 30 minute video that outlines many of the factors that contribute to limited access and poor quality of care in Guinea-Bissau—and the human implications of these problems.

Click here to visit the website for the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

Click here to read this report on Margaret Chan’s speech regarding the current state of health in Africa. She sites progress in tackling Malaria and HIV and improvements in child health, but she expresses sadness at the lack of success in reducing maternal mortality and addressing gender-based violence.

Read the full article.

The Jordan Times

“The maternal mortality rate in the Kingdom dropped to 19.1 per 100,000 live births in 2007-2008, 50 per cent less than the 1995-1996 figures, according to a report released by the Higher Population Council (HPC) on Monday. The study tallied the number of women of reproductive age (19-49 years), who died either during pregnancy, in delivery or in the postpartum period (within 42 days after giving birth). A total of 76 maternal deaths were identified in 2007-2008 out of 397,588 live births…”

Read the full story here.

Relief Web

“Figures showing a rise in the number of women dying in childbirth have only confirmed the multiple challenges facing maternity provision in Kyrgyzstan, which is short of qualified hospital staff, medical supplies and equipment. From January to the end of August, the latest period for which national data are available, 58 deaths were recorded among mothers during pregnancy, childbirth and the post-delivery period. The figure for eight months was ten more than for the whole of 2008. The figures were announced at a national congress of Kyrgyzstan midwives, paediatricians and paediatric surgeons held in the capital Bishkek on October 29-30. As the meeting took place, investigations were continuing into the deaths of four women at Bishkek’s perinatal centre between July 1 and August 18…”

Read the full story here.

AllAfrica.com

“Years of conflict and instability mean the Democratic Republic of Congo is still among the worst countries in the world to be pregnant, despite a nationwide push to improve maternal, infant and childhood mortality rates. ‘Every hour of every day in DRC, four women die from complications of pregnancy and labour, and for every woman who dies, between 20 and 30 have serious complications, such as obstetric fistula, which is very common in DRC,’ said Richard Dackam Ngacthou, country representative of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA)…”

Read the full article here.

Afghanistan: The Tribulations of Child-bearing Children

IRIN Humanitarian News and Analysis

In this piece, you will meet Rabia, age 14, who was married almost a year ago and is expecting her first child.
Afghan law sets 16 as the minimum age of marriage for girls and 18 for boys, but Rabia is one of  many young girls who are forced to marry at a younger age. Most girls and women in Afghanistan have very limited access to health services and skilled attendance at the time of delivery. Afghanistan  has “among the worst maternal and infant mortality rates in the world. About 25,000 mothers die every year during pregnancy, at child birth or after delivery, according to UNFPA (equivalent to 800 deaths per 100,000 women).”

See the full story here.

Letter From Yemen: Child Brides’ Enduring Plight

Washington Post

In this article, you will meet Ayesha, a 13-year-old  girl who was married against her will to a 53-year old man. “Yemen has no minimum age for marriage, and girls as young as 8 are often forced to wed. Many become mothers soon after they reach puberty. The country has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world. The death of a 12-year-old in childbirth this fall highlighted the health risks.”

See the full story here.

Young People Speak Up for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Worldwide, But U.S. Policy Lags

RH Reality Check

And finally, this piece from RH Reality Check outlines the role that youth are playing in advocating for increased access to information and care. “Importantly, adolescents recognize their need for better information and want it to come from reliable sources they trust. In Uganda—one of the study’s focus countries—about half of all young people said, unprompted, that they would like to get information about contraceptive methods, HIV and other STIs from teachers, health care providers or the mass media, whereas just one-third would prefer to receive information from family and one-fifth from friends.”

This article also “takes stock” of the accomplishments/shortcomings of the reproductive health agenda in the past 15 years since the United Nation’s International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and outlines various reproductive health issues that youth continue to face around the world, highlighting the global distribution of such issues.

Read the full article here.

Adolescent Maternal Mortality: An Overlooked Crisis

Advocates for Youth

For more information on adolescent maternal mortality, check out Adolescent Maternal Mortality: An Overlooked Crisis, a publication from Advocates for Youth.

Readers, have you seen any recent articles/blogs that discuss MDG5 issues and youth? Either the burden of maternal morbidity and mortality among youth—or stories of youth standing up for their rights to reproductive health services? Please share in the comments section.

Last day to join the 10,000 in 10 Campaign!
Today is the last day of the 10,000 in 10 Campaign to support women’s rights–including health. The campaign, organized by Physicians for Human Rights, ran from December 1st, World AIDS Day through today, International Human Rights Day. The goal of the campaign is to mobilize 10,000 Americans to advocate for US ratification of the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 2010.

Click here to sign the petition. TODAY is the last day of the campaign!

The International Initiative on Maternal Mortality and Human Rights (IIMMHR) is calling on individuals to join their movement

IIMMHR is asking individuals to join them today in a commitment to end maternal mortality, so that women everywhere can enjoy their right to life, health, equality and non-discrimination.

Click here to see their fact sheet on the UN Human Rights Council Resolution on Maternal Mortality, the press release announcing the resolution and the full text of the resolution.

What about the third stage of labor?

A recent study performed in India as part of a Health and Population Innovation Fellowship granted by the Population Council found significant gaps in the management of the third stage of labor, the period between delivery of the baby and delivery of the placenta. These gaps are likely contributing to the high levels of maternal mortality in India. See the full story here.

PAKISTAN
www.DAWN.com

Are women in Pakistan relying on unsafe abortions as a form of birth control?

Population welfare authorities are pleased with recent findings that total fertility rates have gone down in Pakistan–leading to an assumption that access to family planning methods has gone up throughout the country. However, this article, The Untold Story of Abortion, highlights alarming data recently released by the National Committee on Maternal and Neonatal Health in collaboration with the Guttmacher Institute. The data shows that in 2002, 890 thousand induced abortions were performed in Pakistan—a large number clandestinely by untrained midwives. Unsafe abortion is a leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality around the world. Click here to read the full story.

PERU
The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health

Discrimination and Maternal Mortality in Peru

This new report, Dying to Give Birth: Fighting Maternal Mortality in Peru, from the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health outlines issues of gender and ethnic discrimination that limit access and quality of care for Peruvian women. The report also contrasts Peru with countries in sub-Saharan Africa—citing differences in the way maternal deaths are distributed within countries. Read the report here.

RWANDA
allafrica.com

Medical Experts Gather to Discuss Obstetric Fistula

Policy makers, clinicians, health officials and community leaders met for a two day conference hosted by the Ministry of Health, the Rwanda Medical Association and the Fistula Care Project (managed by EngenderHealth) to design a road map to eradicate obstetric fistula in Rwanda. Click here for the full story.

Also, click here to see a piece on Huffington Post about Ana Langer, President of EngenderHealth, and the work EngenderHealth is doing to increase access to fistula surgery for women all over the world.

TANZANIA
This Day: The Voice of Transparency

Workshop in Dar es Salaam equips journalists with information on HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health

The Wanawake na Maendeleo Foundation (WAMA) and the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) organized a workshop in Dar es Salaam for journalists. The goal of the workshop was to empower journalists with a clear understanding of HIV/AIDS and maternal and child health issues impacting Tanzania. Journalists at the meeting agreed to focus attention on factors impeding the improvement of living conditions for women and children throughout the country. See the full story here.
Also, click here to see a post from last week about a similar workshop for journalists held in Ghana.

ZIMBABWE
RH Reality Check

Progress toward MDG5 might be slow in some places–but in Zimbabwe, the situation is actually getting worse

This piece, Zimbabwe’s Growing Crisis of Maternal Deaths, outlines the factors that have contributed to a maternal mortality ratio that has risen from 138 deaths/100,000 live births in the mid-nineties to 880 deaths/100,000 live births in 2005. See the full story here.