|
 |
 |
  20 Years Making Pregnancy Safer
For the majority of the world's women, pregnancy and childbirth are fraught with risks. Each year, almost 530,000 women die from pregnancy-related causes, and millions more suffer injuries or develop life-long disabilities. Ninety-nine percent of these women live in the developing world. In 1987, experts, development professionals and policy makers gathered in Nairobi to inaugurate the Safe Motherhood Initiative. The impact and the progress of the Safe Motherhood Initiative are described in the Safe Motherhood: A Review, the newest FCI report.
Raising Awareness and Building Commitment
Globally and regionally, FCI works to focus attention on maternal mortality, forge consensus around proven strategies, and accelerate action to address the problem. FCI was one of the first - and is still one of the few - international NGOs to place maternal health at the center of its mission. As the secretariat of the Safe Motherhood Inter-Agency Group (1987-2004), FCI worked with a range of international agencies to raise global awareness about safe motherhood, define goals and programmatic priorities for the initiative, stimulate research, mobilize resources, and share information on how to make pregnancy and childbirth safer. Currently, as a co-chair of the Board for the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH), FCI continues to advocate for increased commitment to and resources for safe motherhood and newborn health.
In Latin America, FCI is an active member and promoter of several successful national coalitions working to improve safe motherhood, as well as the Latin America and Caribbean Regional Task Force on Maternal Mortality Reduction. In Africa, FCI is a member of the Africa Regional Reproductive Health Task Force, which is working to accelerate reductions in maternal and newborn mortality rates throughout the region.
Improving Access to Maternal Health Services
Around the globe, FCI is helping to ensure that all women have access to good-quality maternal health care. A special focus of our work is improving women's access to skilled care throughout pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. In addition, FCI is focused on improving women's access to comprehensive family planning information, counseling, and services; safe abortion services, where legal; and post-abortion care. FCI also works to ensure that young women and adolescents have access to sexuality education and youth-friendly reproductive health services so that they can prevent early childbearing and its accompanying risks.
Identifying New Technological Solutions for Maternal Health Problems
FCI is working to advance new technologies that have the potential to dramatically improve maternal health outcomes in poor, rural settings in the developing world. FCI is collaborating with Gynuity Health Projects, on a new initiative to evaluate misoprostol as an alternative therapy for preventing and treating postpartum hemorrhage, which kills more than 350 women around the world each day. This effort will yield much-needed data on the efficacy of a specific regimen of misoprostol so that regulatory approval for the drug can be obtained in countries around the world. The new Misoprostol for Postpartum Hemorrhage Information Kit, which includes a detailed project description, is now available in our Publications section. |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Special event at UN highlights commitments to mothers and children
On September 25, representatives of more than 100 governments and international organizations gathered in New York at the special event “Commitment to Progress for Mothers, Newborn and Children.” Organized by FCI and colleague organizations and hosted by the Presidents of Chile, Finland and Tanzania, the event highlighted the need for urgent global action and substantial increased investment in maternal and child health. Leaders from governments, UN agencies, donors, the private sector, and civil society pledged specific commitments; see Commitment to Progress for Mothers, Newborns and Children. Click here for more.
Countdown to 2015: World not on track to meet maternal health goals
 FCI's president, Ann Starrs, is part of a working group that released new data in special issue of the Lancet, suggesting that many countries are not on track to reach MDG 5, which calls for improving women’s health by cutting maternal deaths by three-quarters. “Basic improvements in reproductive health services, including family planning, as well as skilled care for all deliveries and emergency obstetric care for those women who have complications, are effective ways to prevent these unnecessary deaths”, said Ann Starrs. Click here to read the article of the Lancet.
Ecuador maternal health facts presented in new publication
FCI, the Ministry of Health of Ecuador, the Executive branch of the Law for Free Maternity and Newborn Care, UNFPA/Ecuador and the Project for Health Care Improvement (HCI) have developed Por una maternidad y nacimientos seguros to disseminate the most recent available data on Maternal and Newborn Health in Ecuador. Available in Spanish. Click here to download.
- Pregnancy and childbirth complications are a leading cause of death for women aged 15-49 in developing countries.
- The chance that a woman will die due to pregnancy-related causes is:
- 1 in 20 in developing countries
- 1 in 4,000 in industrialized countries.
- Skilled attendants are present at only 53% of deliveries worldwide and only 40% of deliveries take place in a hospital or health center.
- Financial contributions are the easiest and most effective way to help FCI.
- You can host a fundraising event.
- Up to 15% of every purchase on www.igive.com will go directly to FCI!
|
|
|
|
|
