• woodrow wilson center
  • ecsp

New Security Beat

Subscribe:
  • rss
  • mail-to
  • Who We Are
  • Topics
    • Population
    • Environment
    • Security
    • Health
    • Development
  • Columns
    • China Environment Forum
    • Choke Point
    • Dot-Mom
    • Navigating the Poles
    • New Security Broadcast
    • Reading Radar
  • Multimedia
    • Water Stories (Podcast Series)
    • Backdraft (Podcast Series)
    • Tracking the Energy Titans (Interactive)
  • Films
    • Water, Conflict, and Peacebuilding (Animated Short)
    • Paving the Way (Ethiopia)
    • Broken Landscape (India)
    • Scaling the Mountain (Nepal)
    • Healthy People, Healthy Environment (Tanzania)
  • Publications
  • Events
  • Contact Us

NewSecurityBeat

The blog of the Wilson Center's Environmental Change and Security Program
Maternal Health Initiative

An estimated 810 women die from pregnancy- or childbirth-related complications around the world every day. And for every woman who dies, it’s estimated 20 more experience acute or chronic morbidity. Ninety-nine percent of maternal deaths and morbidities occur in developing countries.

The Wilson Center’s Maternal Health Initiative is committed to improving maternal health outcomes by increasing knowledge, understanding, and communication of creative interventions that can be integrated into policies and programs worldwide.

Follow MHI via “Dot-Mom”, on Twitter, and on Instagram

PHOTO CREDIT: USAID IN AFRICA.

  • Silencing the Stigma of Menstruation

    ›
    Dot-Mom  //  May 18, 2022  //  By Chanel Lee
    Group,Of,Multiethnic,College,Friends,Walking,In,The,Street.,Smiling

    Every month, young women and girls in the villages of Nepal make their way into makeshift huts where they will reside for the week until their menstruation has finished. Some of them will turn to nearby sheds whereas others will travel through dense forests to reach these huts. Venomous snake bites, asphyxiation, and rape are just a few of the harsh realities of living in these poorly ventilated and weakly protected menstrual huts. This practice of self-isolation called “chhaupadi” is an ancient tradition of “untouchability” rooted in the belief that menstruation is sinful and impure. Considered bringers of misfortune, menstruating girls and women are forbidden from taking part in any household, religious, and social activities under this tradition, forcing them to distance themselves from their family and community during this time. Although chhaupadi seems like an extreme case or isolated custom, it actually represents a common global issue—menstrual stigma.

    MORE
  • Addressing the Global Stigma of Being Childfree

    ›
    Dot-Mom  //  May 11, 2022  //  By Claire Hubley
    Young,African,Business,Woman,Walking,Down,The,Street

    Women around the world are choosing to forego motherhood. Yet more often than not stigma remains the global response, despite a decades-long global trend of women making this decision.  

    Varied social perceptions greet the choice to not bear children, depending on the culture and economic status of the country. Yet regardless of income level, globally recognized female stereotypes often place a high value on a woman’s fertility and her potential role as a mother, making it harder for women to exercise their agency to embrace other alternatives.

    MORE
  • COVID-19 Heightens Mental Health Conditions for Vulnerable Communities

    ›
    Covid-19  //  Dot-Mom  //  May 4, 2022  //  By Shariq Farooqi
    Anxious,Teenage,Student,Sitting,Examination,In,School,Hall

    The COVID-19 pandemic has created universal impacts on mental health.  Anxiety, depression, and other conditions have worsened as financial instability, isolation, gender-based violence, and other factors generated by this crisis have contributed to poor mental health – especially for youth, LGBTQ+ populations, and pregnant/postpartum women. Yet despite the global attention focused on mental health, overall conditions have only worsened in vulnerable communities.

    MORE
  • New Global Health & Gender Policy Brief: The Global Care Economy

    ›
    Dot-Mom  //  April 27, 2022  //  By Maternal Health Initiative Staff
    Black,Working,Mother,Taking,Notes,While,Daughter,Is,Sitting,On

    Care work makes all other work possible. It is also the fastest-growing sector of work in the world—projected to add 150 million jobs by 2030. The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified the importance of care work. It has also exposed how women perform most caregiving work, which is unpaid, underpaid, and/or undervalued. Globally, women and girls contribute more than 70 percent of total global caregiving hours (paid and unpaid) and perform more than 75 percent of unpaid care work. The inordinate amount of unpaid care work women and girls perform prevents them from earning a paid income, which contributes to greater gender inequities worldwide.

    MORE
  • Gender Inequality in Mexico’s Fractured Public Health System

    ›
    Dot-Mom  //  From the Wilson Center  //  Guest Contributor  //  April 20, 2022  //  By Samantha Kane Jiménez
    Puebla,,Mexico,-,March,29,,2021:,Covid-19,Vaccination,Day,For

    In recent years, Mexican women have experienced a significant downgrade in the quality and accessibility of public healthcare – and not due to the COVID-19 pandemic – said Irene Tello, Executive Director of Mexican impunity watchdog Impunidad Cero, at a recent event hosted by the Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute. The expert panel agreed that the greatest barriers for Mexican women seeking medical attention lie in the current government’s nearsighted health policies and mismanagement of the public health sector.

    MORE
  • 66th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women: Six Pillars to Support Midwives

    ›
    Dot-Mom  //  On the Beat  //  April 13, 2022  //  By Chanel Lee
    SoWMY 2022 OTB

    “When women can decide on the timing and spacing of their births, are treated with respect, and offered quality of care across the life course—they are not only able to survive, they, their families, and their communities are able to thrive and flourish. By directly and indirectly contributing to women’s empowerment, midwives are contributing to strengthen economic and productive and equitable societies,” said Dr. Julitta Onabanjo, Director of the Technical Division at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), New York, at a recent event hosted by UNFPA as part of the 66th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women. Midwives and midwifery experts convened to discuss the important role that midwives play in the improvement of gender equality, women’s economic empowerment, and climate justice.

    MORE
  • Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Russian Women and the Anti-War Movement

    ›
    Dot-Mom  //  From the Wilson Center  //  April 13, 2022  //  By Victoria Pardini
    Warsaw,,February,27,,2022:,Protest,Against,War,In,Ukraine,And

    “I want this war to be over. I want all of us to rebuild our societies. We are a force that can do that, and we will do that; we are doing it. But I think we also need to see the bigger picture, that women in the world, and now in our region, are not protected from violence – any form of violence,” said Marina Pisklakova-Parker, Director of Strategic Partnerships at the Every Woman Treaty, during a recent Wilson Center event on Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Russian women’s voices in the anti-war movement. 

    MORE
  • Ukrainian Resilience: Ukrainian MP Kira Rudik Discusses Surviving in Kyiv [New Video]

    ›
    Dot-Mom  //  Eye On  //  April 6, 2022  //  By Sarah B. Barnes
    51920676276_1da8751c8d_c

    When Kira Rudik, Ukrainian Member of Parliament and Leader of the Holos/Voice Party spoke with the Wilson Center’s Maternal Health Initiative and Middle East Program on the one month anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, she emphasized the transformative nature of the conflict for every citizen.

    “Putin thought he would be fighting our army,” says Rudik. “Instead, he’s fighting every single man and woman in Ukraine, and there’s a huge difference.”

    MORE
  Older Posts
View full site

Join the Conversation

  • RSS
  • subscribe
  • facebook
  • G+
  • twitter
  • iTunes
  • podomatic
  • youtube
Tweets by NewSecurityBeat

Trending Stories

  • unfccclogo1
  • Pop at COP: Population and Family Planning at the UN Climate Negotiations

Featured Media

Backdraft Podcast

play Backdraft
Podcasts

More »

What You're Saying

  • farmers are planting sweet potato seeds in the fields in Hebei Province, China Microplastics in Soil – Small Size Big Impact on U.S. and Chinese Agriculture
    ♥️MAGACat♥️ We Ultra Win!!!: Biden needs to give us all new washing machines. And masks for the washing machines. "changing the...
  • women_caregivers The Burden of Care: The Impact of Progressive Policies
    ♥️MAGACat♥️ We Ultra Win!!!: The woman on the left looks very Ukrainian. Are we taking care of her too? 5/19/2022
  • Pakistan-fertility-estimate Pakistan’s Population Bomb Defused?
    muhammad rehman: High infant mortality , low life span and immigration should also be taken into account. A TFR of...

What We’re Reading

More »
  • woodrow
  • ecsp
  • RSS Feed
  • YouTube
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Home
  • Who We Are
  • Publications
  • Events
  • Wilson Center
  • Contact Us
  • Print Friendly Page

© Copyright 2007-2022. Environmental Change and Security Program.

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. All rights reserved.

Developed by Vico Rock Media

Environmental Change and Security Program

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center

  • One Woodrow Wilson Plaza
  • 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
  • Washington, DC 20004-3027

T 202-691-4000