A WOW! e-Brief

Work of Women program @ World Neighbors

May 2007

 

Overview

World Neighbors and Safe Motherhood

Portrait of Musangi Muvali, a Traditional Birth Attendant

 

Learn More and Get Involved

By volunteering with World Neighbors at headquarters, or making a donation to WOW! you support the holistic, integrated work that World Neighbors does around the world involving education, health and nutrition. Safe motherhood is an integral part of our community and reproductive health work, and helps thousands of women a year have healthier pregnancies and births.

Resources Utilized in the Preparation of This Brief

The resources below, a number of which were utilized in the preparation of this issue brief, are recommended as good sources for further learning on the subject of safe motherhood and maternal health.

Global Health Council. (n.d.). Women’s Health. Available online at http://www.globalhealth.org/view_top.php3?id=225.

Ranson, Elizabeth I., and Nancy V. Yinger. (2002). Making Motherhood Safer: Overcoming Obstacles on the Pathway to Care. Washington, DC: Population Reference Bureau.

http://www.prb.org/pdf/MakMotherhdSafer_Eng.pdf

Save the Children. (2007). State of the World's Mothers 2007. Saving the Lives of Children Under Five. Westport, CN: Save the Children. Available online at http://www.savethechildren.org/publications/mothers/2007

/SOWM-2007-final.pdf

———. (2006). State of the World’s Mothers 2006. Saving the Lives of Mothers and Newborns. Westport, CN: Save the Children. Available online at http://www.savethechildren.org/publications/mothers/2006/

SOWM_2006_final.pdf

UNICEF. (2006). The State of the World’s Children 2007. Women and Children: The Double Dividend of Gender Equity. New York: UNICEF.

http://www.unicef.org/sowc07/docs/sowc07.pdf

EngenderHealth. (n.d.) Facts about Obstetric Fistula: The Hidden Heartbreak. New York: EngenderHealth. Available online at http://www.engenderhealth.org/about/factsheets/Obstetric_Fistula.pdf

Join WOW! Now

Celebrate Mother's Day by Urging Ratification of CEDAW

http://www.workofwomen.org/2007MayCEDAWTakeActionPage.php

This year, members of 200 groups - religious organizations, women's groups, human rights organizations and civic groups - are joining together to do more than family celebrations of Mother's Day at home. Join with us in urging the U.S. Senate to ratify the Treaty for the Rights of Women, officially known as the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

Learn More and Develop Your Advocacy Skills

http://www.globalhealth.org/assets/publications/advocacy_manual.pdf

The Global Health Council publishes a Global Health Advocacy Manual, which is available online free of charge. The manual provides a nice introduction to working with the media, the legislative process and the basics of advocacy-related communication.

White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood

http://www.whiteribbonalliance.org

The WRA is a grassroots movement for safe motherhood that builds alliances, strengthens capacity, influences policies, harnesses resources and inspires action to save women's and newborns’ lives worldwide. It is an alliance of international nongovernmental organizations, United Nations agencies, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in an effort to raise awareness of the need to make pregnancy and childbirth safe for all women and newborns in developed as well as developing countries. Make some white ribbons to share with your friends, and wear one yourself.

Screen a Video and Spark a Conversation

http://www.endfistula.org/video.htm

In 2003, the United Nations Population Fund and partners launched a global Campaign to End Fistula with the goal of making obstetric fistula as rare in developing countries as it is in the industrialized world. The Campaign is now working in more than 40 countries in Africa, Asia and the Arab region and involves a range of partners. In each country, it focuses on prevention, treatment and rehabilitation. The Campaign has identified six videos dealing with obstetric fistula, which it has listed online at the above link. Obtain and screen one or more of these videos and help raise awareness among a group of friends, or with an organization with which you are involved.

Do Your Part to Increase the Number of Skilled Health Professionals

Are you a student or still looking for a career that makes a difference? Do you have daughters or sons who are exploring professions? There is a shortage of trained health care professionals, especially in developing countries and rural areas. Someone with training and experience can commit their career to working in developing countries, or take a volunteer trip or sabbatical to an area where their skills are greatly needed.

 

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