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Safe Motherhood (safe + motherhood)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	75%

Selected Abstracts

Political History and Disparities in Safe Motherhood Between Guatemala and Honduras

POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT REVIEW, Issue 1 2006
Jeremy Shiffman
Each year, worldwide, more than 500,000 women die of complications from childbirth, making this a leading cause of death globally for adult women of reproductive age. Nearly all studies that have sought to explain the persistence of high maternal mortality levels have focused on the supply of and demand for particular health services. We argue that inquiry on health services is useful but insufficient. Robust explanations for safe motherhood outcomes require examination of factors lying deeper in the causal chain. We compare the cases of Guatemala and Honduras to examine historical and structural influences on maternal mortality. Despite being a poorer country than Guatemala, Honduras has a superior safe motherhood record. We argue that four historical and structural factors stand behind this difference: Honduras's relatively stable and Guatemala's turbulent modern political history; the presence of a marginalized indigenous population in Guatemala, but not in Honduras, that the state has had difficulty reaching; a conservative Catholic Church that has played a larger role in Guatemala than Honduras in blocking priority for reproductive health; and more effective advocacy for maternal mortality reduction in Honduras than Guatemala in the face of this opposition. [source]

Maternal Mortality, United States and Canada, 1982,1997

BIRTH, Issue 1 2000
Donna L. Hoyert PhD
Background:The 1998 public awareness campaign on Safe Motherhood called attention to the issue of maternal mortality worldwide. This paper focuses upon maternal mortality trends in the United States and Canada, and examines differentials in maternal mortality in the United States by maternal characteristics. Methods:Data from the vital statistics systems of the United States and Canada were used in the analysis. Both systems identify maternal deaths using the definition of the World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases. Numbers of deaths, maternal mortality rates, and confidence intervals for the rates are shown in the paper. Results:Maternal mortality declined for much of the century in both countries, but the rates have not changed substantially between 1982 and 1997. In this period the maternal mortality levels were lower in Canada than in the United States. Maternal mortality rates vary by maternal characteristics, especially maternal age and race. Conclusions:Maternal mortality continues to be an issue in developed countries, such as the United States and Canada. Maternal mortality rates have been stable recently, despite evidence that many maternal deaths continue to be preventable. Additional investment is needed to realize further improvements in maternal mortality. [source]

Safe motherhood in Jamaica: from slavery to self-determination

PAEDIATRIC & PERINATAL EPIDEMIOLOGY, Issue 4 2005
Affette McCaw-Binns
Summary The development of maternal health care in Jamaica is reviewed by examining government documents and publications to identify social and political factors associated with maternal mortality decline. Modern maternity services began with the 1887 establishment of the Victoria Jubilee Hospital and Midwifery School. Community midwives were deployed widely by the 1930s and community antenatal care expanded in the 1950s. Social policies in the 1970s increased women's access to primary health care, education and social support; improved transportation in the 1990s facilitated hospital delivery. Maternal mortality declined rapidly from ,600/100 000 in the 1930s to 200/100 000 in 1960, led by a 69% decline in sepsis by 1950, and a 72% decline from all causes thereafter, settling at ,100/100 000 in the 1980s. Skilled birth attendant deliveries moved from 39% in 1950 to 95% in 2001 and hospital births from 31% in 1960 to 91% in 2001. Maternal mortality plateaued at 70,80% prevalence of skilled delivery care. Deployment of midwives into rural communities and social development focused on women and children were associated with the observed improvements. Further reductions will require greater attention to the quality of emergency obstetric care. [source]

Preferences for Perinatal Health Communication of Women in Rural Tibet

JOURNAL OF OBSTETRIC, GYNECOLOGIC & NEONATAL NURSING, Issue 1 2009
Phuoc V. Le
ABSTRACT Objective: To describe the most acceptable methods for educating women in Medrogongkar County, Tibet, about healthy pregnancy and safe motherhood. Design: Focus group discussions with key informants were used to develop a quantitative, orally administered random sample survey. Setting: Thirty-two randomly selected villages in Medrogongkar County. Participants: One hundred and forty-eight multigravida over the age of 18 living in Medrogongkar County. Results: Most participants reported receiving pregnancy-related information either from family members (n=85, 57.4%) or from community health workers (n=81, 54.7%), while very few reported group teaching or radio/television/videos as sources. When asked what modalities of health communication are most effective for them, participants preferred discussions with family members (n=59, 39.8%), specifically their mothers (n=34, 23.0%). Community health worker teaching (n=15, 10.1%) or group teaching (n=7, 4.7%) were reported as less effective. Conclusions: Despite recent efforts in Tibet to use group teaching, television/radio programs, and health professionals visiting patients' homes as health communication modalities, participants preferred to learn pregnancy-related health messages from their close family, especially their mothers. Future health communication interventions in rural Tibet and similar communities should consider targeting close family members as well as pregnant women to maximize acceptability of advice on healthy pregnancy and delivery. [source]