By Dr. Amanda Henry, The George Institute Preeclampsia is a pregnancy-related condition characterised by high blood pressure and evidence of other effects on organs of the pregnant woman and her baby, such as protein in the urine, abnormal blood tests…
Engaging communities to build awareness and agency in pre-eclampsia and maternal health
By Pooja Sripad Engaging women in their communities through group-based maternal health care increases their agency to seek necessary antenatal, childbirth and postnatal care. It stimulates collective learning, promotes involvement of community members and builds social support networks at pivotal…
Midwives Can Reduce the Number of Preventable Deaths From Pre-Eclampsia: Research from Kenya and Nigeria
By Amy Dempsey Sunday, May 5 is International Day of the Midwife, a global advocacy day dedicated to raising awareness of the importance of these defenders of women’s rights. To raise awareness, please read and share the International Confederation of Midwives’ social media…
What ails good policies on prevention and management of pre-eclampsia and eclampsia: Two counties in Kenya
By Charity Ndwiga, Program Officer In Kenya, despite the maternal mortality rate remaining high—between 2003 and 2014 (more than 400 deaths per 100,000 live births)—the proportion of mothers accessing antenatal care (ANC) and emergency obstetric and newborn care (EmONC) increased…
Nutrition and pre-eclampsia risk factors in Ethiopia
By Khadijah Alibhai In Ethiopia, 412 women die per 100,000 live births. Most of these deaths are preventable, and 19 percent of them are from hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, including pre-eclampsia and eclampsia (PE/E). Typically, pre-eclampsia is detectable during early…
Study: Introduction of antihypertensive drugs in selected upazilas in Bangladesh
By Kanij Sultana Every year in Bangladesh, between 5,000 and 6,000 women die from hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP). Of those maternal deaths, between 1,000 and 1,200 are the result of undetected and unmonitored high blood pressure that progresses to…
Maternal Health Efforts Can Prevent Non-communicable Diseases
By Amy Dempsey and Saumya RamRao In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), economic advancement is linked to a health transition that shifts from infectious diseases to non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Most NCDs are from lifestyle choices and behaviors that lead to…
The CRADLE Vital Signs Alert: an accurate device for use in low-resource settings
By Elodie Lawley, Nicola Vousden, Hannah Nathan, Andrew Shennan Obstetric haemorrhage, sepsis, and pregnancy-related hypertension kill 830 women every day. About 99 percent of these pregnancy- or childbirth-related deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, where women in rural communities with…
Halving maternal and newborn deaths in health facilities in nine countries
By Karen Kirk and Charlotte Warren Last week, nine countries joined the new Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health. The Network is a product of the WHO’s “Standards for Improving Quality of Maternal and…
Task Shifting: The key to increasing access to essential maternal health services
By Amy Dempsey & Saumya RamaRao Death during childbirth or pregnancy is a common occurrence. It happens 830 times a day, most often in developing countries. Pre-eclampsia and eclampsia (PE/E) is the second leading direct cause of maternal mortality worldwide.…