Women suffered differentially in the tsunami disaster. While the total death toll will never be known accurately, it is known that more women and children died than men. Among the survivors it is the special needs of women that are being overlooked.
Given the rapid growth in the number of young fertile women, it is possible that more women will die from pregnancy, childbirth and abortion in the current decade than in any other in human history. With steps that we know how to take, we should be able now to roll back the silent tide of maternal death.
Literature review to identify interventions that require minimal treatment/infrastructure and are not dependent on skilled providers. Simulations were run to assess the potential number of maternal lives that could be saved through intervention implementation according to potential program impact. Regional and country level estimates are provided as examples of settings that would most benefit from proposed interventions.
Three interventions were identified: (i) improve access to contraception; (ii) increase efforts to reduce deaths from unsafe abortion; and (iii) increase access to...
A look at abortion from the perspective of a doctor who has performed abortions, a physician who also has a PhD in embryology, and someone who had the privilege of working all over the world in various aspects of human reproduction and sexuality.
Published in The European Journal of Contraception and Reproductive Health Care, June 2010;15:157–159
This comment in the explores the role of policy and research in using the prevention of postpartum hemorrhage and suggest a joint meeting by WHO and FIGO to revisit the 2009 statement by WHO which does not recommend the use of misoprostol at the community level.
Objective: Guide policy-makers in prioritizing safe motherhood interventions.
Methods: Three models (LOW, MED, HIGH) were constructed based on 34 sub-Saharan African countries to assess the relative cost-effectiveness of available safe motherhood interventions. Cost and effectiveness data were compiled and inserted into the WHO Mother Baby Package Costing Spreadsheet. For each model we assessed the percentage in maternal mortality reduction after implementing all interventions, and optimal combinations of interventions given restricted budgets of US$ 0.50, US$ 1.00, US$ 1.50 per...
Although maternal mortality is a significant global health issue, achievements in mortality decline to date have been inadequate. A review of the interventions targeted at maternal mortality reduction demonstrates that most developing countries face tremendous challenges in the implementation of these interventions, including the availability of unreliable data and the shortage in human and financial resources, as well as limited political commitment. Examples from developing countries, such as Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Honduras, demonstrate that maternal mortality will decline when...
Unsafe abortion continues to be an important factor affecting women’s reproductive lives and survival in the developing world, where 98% of all unsafe abortions occur. It has not declined in recent years, continuing at an annual rate of 16 per 1000 women of reproductive age in the developing world according to updated information for 2008. Laws that are highly restrictive help to explain the prevalence of unsafe abortion; however, even in some countries where the law permits abortion under broad indications, difficulties in accessing legal and safe services mean that high proportions of...
VSI, the Tigray Regional Health Bureau and the Bixby Center at UC Berkeley conducted a pilot program assessing the feasibility of providing comprehensive abortion care at all levels of the health care system in Tigray, Ethiopia, including by Health Extension Workers.
Information, education and communication (IEC) campaign sample from a postabortion care (PAC) operations research project in Rwanda using the local Kinyarwanda language.
A pocket reference for clinicians, this Misoprostol Regimens Pocket Guide from Rwanda details the dosage and route recommendations for the administraiton of misoprostol use in obstetrics and gynecology.
