While significant gains have been made to address the global burden of maternal mortality, as demonstrated by the 34.5% reduction between 2000 and 2020, 1 progress has been uneven. A disproportionate burden is evident in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), 1,2 particularly in the perinatal phase,3–5 a neglected yet critical period for action to prevent […]
Read More
Maternal outcomes throughout pregnancy, childbirth, and the postnatal period are influenced by interlinked and interdependent vulnerabilities. A comprehensive understanding of how various threats and barriers affect maternal and perinatal health is critical to plan, evaluate and improve maternal health programmes. This paper builds on the introductory paper of the Series on the determinants of maternal […]
Read More
An equity lens to maternal health has typically focused on assessing the differences in coverage and use of healthcare services and critical interventions. While this approach is important, we argue that healthcare experiences, dignity, rights, justice, and well-being are fundamental components of high quality and person-centered maternal healthcare that must also be considered. Looking at […]
Read More
The Series on maternal health in the perinatal period and beyond explores the effects of traumatic childbirth on women’s health and well-being, with particular attention to its medium-term and long-term consequences. I found some of the concepts very interesting and thought-provoking. Efforts to reduce maternal mortality consume all resources, so morbidity issues never gain priority. From […]
Read More
The reduction of maternal mortality and the promotion of maternal health and well-being are complex tasks. This Series paper analyses the distal and proximal determinants of maternal health, as well as the exposures, risk factors, and micro-correlates related to maternal mortality. This paper also examines the relationship between these determinants and the gradual shift over […]
Read More
Over the past three decades, substantial progress has been made in reducing maternal mortality worldwide. However, the historical focus on mortality reduction has been accompanied by comparative neglect of labour and birth complications that can emerge or persist months or years postnatally. This paper addresses these overlooked conditions, arguing that their absence from the global […]
Read More
As a global health journal, we are acutely aware of the huge mortality burden that pregnancy and childbirth still confer. According to a 2023 report, a woman dies. from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth every 2 mins, and almost 95% of maternal deaths occur in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). Death is, of […]
Read More
The 2023 Global Health Expenditure Report focuses on health spending in 2021, the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Following massive disruptions to health systems, economies and societies with the onset of the pandemic in 2020, 2021 ushered in a critical new phase as COVID-19 infections and deaths rose sharply. Yet 2021 was also a […]
Read More
The Lusaka Agenda – launched on UHC day 12 December 2023 – marks the culmination of a 14-month process of engagement that has included multi-stakeholder dialogues in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (14 June), Wilton Park, UK (4-6 October) and Lusaka, Zambia (26 November). Building from existing efforts, it captures consensus around five key shifts for the […]
Read More
In The Lancet Global Health, Agrey H Mwakisole and colleagues explore the role of Christian religious leaders in promoting family planning in rural Tanzania. Given the roles that religious leaders can hold as trusted community messengers, the Article provides strong recommendations for including them in family planning initiatives, suggesting that, as an innovative and adaptable […]
Read More
