A Maternal Focus
03 August 2010
While there has been progress, there's still a long way to go in
improving maternal health worldwide.
The below graph doesn't speak loudly enough for the half million
women who die each year - one death each minute - as a result of
complications of pregnancy and childbirth.
While there has been progress, there's still a long way to go in
improving maternal health worldwide.
Photo (left): Technical School for Medical Care student
Champa Munny with a newborn. Photo: Jenni Lee
Saving lives - AVI's midwifery volunteers making a
difference
Adrienne White, Midwifery Educator at the Shoklo Malaria
Research Unit (SMRU) on the Thai / Burma border and Jill Moloney,
Midwifery Preceptor Adviser in Cambodia are, along with local
nurses, giving women the freedom to give birth safely.
Read
more
A comprehensive approach
required
With only five years remaining until the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) target date of 2015, Dr Alison Morgan from the Nossal
Institute for Global Health writes about the increasing attention
being paid to MDG5.
MDG 5 aims to provide access to reproductive health services for
all women, and reduce the number of maternal deaths by 75 per
cent.
Yet, of all the MDGs, MDG5 is making the least progress.
Read more
Beyond the birthing
suite
In a village just outside the popular Balinese tourist
destination of Ubud exists Yayasan Bumi Sehat (YBS), a natural
birthing clinic responding to the maternal and child health needs
of the region's poorest families.
AVI Midwife Mentor Jacinta Knell writes about her efforts to
support the clinic's vision to introduce comprehensive postnatal
services.
Read more
Responding to Ethiopia's
health care challenges
Ethiopia is a country of geographic extremes, with 85 percent of
its population living on small farms throughout the country.
With this vast distribution of people, delivery of universal
health care in this African nation produces its own set of
challenges. Annette Bennett from the Hamlin College of Midwives at
Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital in Ethiopia reports on how the
hospital is responding to these challenges through midwifery
education.
Read
more
Together we help each
other
Malnutrition amongst infants and children is a major issue in
Timor-Leste.
The Ministry of Health's 2008-2012 Health Sector Strategic Plan
stated "so serious is the situation, that malnutrition is estimated
to contribute to over half of all under five deaths in neonatal,
under one and under five age groups."
Read about the great work being done by HIAM-Health, an
organisation working tirelesslu to address maternal health issues,
with the help of AVI volunteer Jill Hillary.
Read more