Psychological disorders following childbirth are incredibly common among women around the world, but are routinely ignored. It’s a “topic that has had to work hard to provide evidence about its fundamental importance,” said Jane Fisher at the Wilson Center. A Maternal Health Initiative panel on so-called perinatal common mental health disorders was the most popular story on the blog last month.
Elizabeth Leahy Madsen also took a deep dive into recent demographic and health survey results to explain regional differences in sub-Saharan African and why West Africa appears fated for continued rapid population growth. And Richard Cincotta explained why, despite recent violence and international threats, Tunisia’s nascent democracy has a good chance to prevail.
1. Swept Under the Carpet: The Psychological Side of Maternal Health, Carley Chavara
2. What’s Behind West and Central Africa’s Youthful Demographics? High Desired Family Size, Elizabeth Leahy Madsen
3. Cooperation Is Not Enough: Why We Need to Think Differently About Water, Naho Mirumachi
4. Will Tunisia’s Democracy Survive? A View from Political Demography, Richard Cincotta
5. What Can Governments Do About Falling Birth Rates? Paris Achenbach and Moses Jackson
6. The Dark Side of Development: Displacement, Eviction in World Bank Projects and Ethiopia, Theo Wilson
7. How Midwives Can Answer the World’s Maternal Health Woes, Linnea Bennett and Theo Wilson
8. Measuring the SDGs: Investments in Mapping, Geospatial Data Collection Critical to Success, Alex Fischer
9. Water Wars? Think Again: Conflict Over Freshwater Structural Rather Than Strategic, Cameron Harrington
10. Illustrating China’s Water-Energy-Food Choke Points [Infographics], Siqi Han
Photo Credit: Mother and child in Bandundu Province, Democratic Republic of Congo, courtesy of the H4+ Partnership.