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 Mobilizing for investment in maternal health
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In 1987, when Family Care International (FCI) was founded, the world was paying little attention to the hundreds of thousands of women dying in pregnancy and childbirth each year. That year FCI helped launch the Safe Motherhood Initiative, a global effort to generate both the strategies and the commitment to save women’s lives. Twenty years later in 2007, FCI took the lead in organizing the Women Deliver Conference to draw attention to the intersection between women’s health and economic growth and the fundamental right of women to safe pregnancy and childbirth. The conference theme, Invest in Women – It Pays, addressed the urgent need for greater investment in women’s health, and the multiple returns such an investment yields. As important, the conference forged a strong new consensus around core strategies for improving maternal and newborn health.
At the conference closing, FCI’s president Ann Starrs summarized the feelings of the nearly 2000 participants: “We are making a promise to the women of the world. We recognize your contributions and value your lives. We will not allow this injustice and waste to continue. We will deliver.”
A source for advocacy and action
To maintain the momentum, pledges, and partnerships mobilized at and immediately following the conference, FCI is working with an advisory group to implement a global Women Deliver advocacy initiative, which will strengthen and sustain political commitment and investment for MDG5 (improve maternal health). The initiative will serve as a source of .gif) information for advocacy and action, and will engage and connect diverse sectors to increase funding and expand programs in maternal, newborn and reproductive health. For FCI, it will be a primary conduit for fulfilling its mission to make pregnancy and childbirth safer. The Women Deliver initiative is about translating commitments to action.
Visit www.womendeliver.org for more information and to learn how you can help.
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Core Strategies for Improving
Maternal and Newborn Health
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Family planning and other reproductive health services
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Skilled care during and immediately after pregnancy and childbirth
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Emergency obstetric care when life threatening complications develop
- Immediate postnatal care for mothers and newborns
Note: Postnatal care was not identified as a core strategy at the Women Deliver conference, but has been added since in consultation with stakeholders in the maternal and newborn health community.
Women Deliver blog marks one year of accomplishments
A year after the historic Women Deliver conference, the issue of maternal and newborn health has grown dramatically in visibility and global attention. To build on this momentum, FCI and the Women Deliver Initiative have launched the Daily Delivery, a blog that will form the heart of a virtual community of people who advocate for maternal health. Visitors to the blog can learn more about the issues, stay up to date, actively participate in discussions, and share their ideas and experiences. Bookmark it, and start visiting every day!
Women Deliver CD-ROM Resource Pack
 Provides advocates with critical resources to sustain and advance commitments to MDG5 including: outcome statements from the Women Deliver conference, background documents, advocacy presentations and other tools for taking action. To request a free copy of the CD-ROM in English, Spanish or French, click here.
Visit www.womendeliver.org to download other resources.
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