Global Cause
Maternal Health 2019
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How a simple blood test can improve pregnancy care?
Preeclampsia — a potentially serious condition that affects women in pregnancy — is difficult to diagnose. Thankfully, a new test is better able to predict who might develop it. We live in a world where women outnumber men, yet statistics show that women’s medical needs are continually underestimated and often go unmet. Perhaps this is...
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Know the symptoms of pre-eclampsia
Pre-eclampsia and eclampsia can have serious implications. Not every pregnant woman displaying symptoms will have the condition — but close monitoring is vital. Different century, same maternal health problems Pre-eclampsia has long been a leading cause of maternal mortality in pregnant women around the world — and it still is, says Dr Manu Vatish, Clinical...
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Stalling HIV progress is a wake-up call to the world
Progress in stopping new HIV infections among children has stagnated, missing global targets set for 2018. Countries have to look at why this is happening if 2020 targets are to be met. The news is concerning. In July, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) published its Start Free Stay Free AIDS Free report,...
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Maternal mortality and morbidity – a global issue
Medicine has made giant leaps over the past 100 years, with the birth of penicillin, the contraceptive pill and vaccines, but maternal mortality rates are still devastatingly high. Every day, around 830 women die from preventable causes linked to pregnancy and childbirth, with 99% of those deaths occurring in developing countries. The majority of these...
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The lives of women and children depend on quality healthcare
Though globally maternal mortality declined by 44% since 1990, it is estimated that more than 300,000 mothers die around the time of childbirth, 2.6 million babies are stillborn, and 2.5 million newborns die annually. Though access to services has increased resulting in almost 80% of live births occurring with the assistance of skilled health personnel...
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Women helping women: how maternity care, for displaced people, is changing
While maternal and infant mortality rates in Afghanistan may be dropping, the often-confusing figures still highlight that further work needs to be done to tackle the societal issues these women face. Trust in the medical community itself has been eroded, and many fear vaccinations and health professionals due to a lack of information. To understand...