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International Day of the Midwife: A Global Call to Action
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“Today is the International Day of the Midwife, a day when we come together as a global health community to celebrate midwives, and the commitment of the midwifery profession globally to saving lives and upholding the rights of women to a safe and positive birth,” write the authors of the Global Call to Action: Protecting Midwives to Sustain Care for Women, Newborns and their Families in the COVID-19 Pandemic. Midwives are essential to the health and protection of women and newborns. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 83 percent of all maternal deaths, stillbirths, and newborn deaths could be averted with the full package of midwifery care.
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First Ever State of the World’s Nursing Report: Unlocking the Gender Dimensions
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“The year is 2020 and it’s a year none of us will forget due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Sarah Barnes, Women and Gender Advisor and Project Director of the Maternal Health Initiative at the Wilson Center at a recent webcasted Wilson Center event. “The year 2020, as designated by the World Health Organization, is also the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife and was meant to be a year of celebration and much due recognition of these two incredible professions.” This month, the first ever State of the World’s Nursing report was published by the World Health Organization (WHO), International Council of Nurses, and Nursing Now.
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Integrating Cervical Cancer Prevention into Comprehensive Women’s Health Care
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Cervical cancer affects 570,000 women a year and kills 311,000. Nine in 10 (88 percent) of the deaths occur in developing countries. This cancer is caused by a common sexually transmitted infection, human papilloma virus (HPV), but is also considered a non-communicable disease (NCD) because of the slower way it presents. Yet, the disease is one of the most preventable and treatable cancers, and cost-effective solutions exist to prevent the disease. Given strong overlaps between HIV and reproductive health, we can and should do more to stop cervical cancer.
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High Blood Pressure: Pregnant and Postpartum Women Face Hidden Danger
›CODE BLUE // Dot-Mom // Guest Contributor // April 23, 2020 // By Charlotte E. Warren & Pooja Sripad
One-third of all maternal deaths can be traced to high blood pressure in pregnancy and in the weeks after giving birth. Yet many women don’t know how dangerous high blood pressure can be. And they may not realize they are at risk for many life-threatening conditions such as pre-eclampsia and eclampsia. Because high blood pressure can be asymptomatic, women with hypertension may not feel unwell or even know that their health is compromised.
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Investing in Girls and Women Could Set Stage for Peace, Development in Sahel
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The coronavirus pandemic has people throughout the world pondering how humankind should respond to a public health crisis. While individual countries are managing the crisis with varying degrees of success, we can all agree that the Covid-19 pandemic is commanding the international community’s attention. By contrast, it is much harder to get the world to care about the long-term public health crisis unfolding in the West African Sahel.
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How Women with Multiple Sclerosis Can Navigate Pregnancy
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Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a non-communicable disease that affects maternal health. MS is an unpredictable chronic disease of the central nervous system that disrupts the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain and body. The progress of this disease, its severity, and specific symptoms cannot yet be predicted and varies by individual. Symptoms may disappear or diminish completely, or they may persist and worsen over time. Typical symptoms include fatigue, numbness and tingling, blurred vision, imbalance, pain, and problems with memory and concentration.
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To Reduce U.S. Maternal Mortality, Take Aim at Non-Communicable Diseases
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Every day there are more than 800 maternal deaths worldwide. Who are these women? They are reproductive women across the globe. They are our sisters, aunts, friends, and co-workers. They are leaders in our community, family members, and caregivers. When assessing the state of maternal morbidity and mortality in the United States, one must consider not only what we know, but also what must change.
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Listen to Midwives to Achieve Universal Health Coverage by 2030
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What is inherent in the word “universal,” is that it is for all women, said Anneka Knutsson, Chief of the Sexual and Reproductive Health Branch at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), at a recent Wilson Center event on the importance of midwives in achieving universal health coverage.
Showing posts from category sexual and reproductive health.
