Addressing High Maternal Mortality and Newborn Deaths in Lesotho

20 December 2023

Maternal Mortality remains a key issue affecting women of reproductive age across the African Region. The current Maternal Mortality Ratio for Lesotho is 566/100,000 live births. This is categorized as very high and is above the regional average of 545/100,000 live births 

To address the high maternal and neonatal mortalities in Lesotho, the technical expert for Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH) and Ageing of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Multi-Country Assignment Team (MCAT) had an in-country engagement in Lesotho to assess the situation as well as the general health context of the country.

Continued: https://www.afro.who.int/countries/lesotho/news/addressing-high-maternal-mortality-and-newborn-deaths-lesotho


Dominican Republic: Submission to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child – 94th Session

Human Rights Watch
August 31, 2023

The National Confederation of Rural Women (Confederación Nacional de Mujeres del Campo or CONAMUCA), Network of United Youth Voices (Red Juvenil Voces Unidas), the Coalition for Women’s Life and Dignity (Coalición por la Vida y la Dignidad de las mujeres), and Human Rights Watch write in advance of the 94th session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (the “Committee”) and its review of the Dominican Republic. This submission addresses articles 3, 6, 24, 28, and 29 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and covers access to abortion and specific aspects of the right to education.

The total abortion ban in the Dominican Republic, in effect since 1884, threatens the health and lives of girls, women, and pregnant people, and is incompatible with the country’s international human rights obligations.

Continued:  https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/08/31/dominican-republic-submission-un-committee-rights-child


Kenya – Entrench safe motherhood

To uphold the fundamental human right to health, as enshrined in the Constitution, maternal health must remain a top government priority.

Thursday, August 03, 2023

By Tamia Nuna, Youth Advocate

In 2020, nearly 800 women died daily from pregnancy- and childbirth-related preventable causes, a maternal death every two minutes. While the global maternal mortality ration (MMR) dropped by 34 per cent from 2000 figures, that 95 per cent of cases were in low- and lower-middle-income countries is a concern. Kenya had a high MMR, of 530 deaths per 100,000 live births, above the global average of 223, thus the urgent need for action.

Continued: https://nation.africa/kenya/blogs-opinion/blogs/entrench-safe-motherhood-4324120


Nigeria – Increasing Use Of Family Planning As Strategy To Lower Maternal Mortality

Jun 9, 2023

Increased use of family planning, according to studies, lowers the number of unintended pregnancies and, as a result, lowers the high rates of maternal mortality.

Sadly, many African countries, like Nigeria, still have low use and availability of contraceptives. According to the 2018 Global Family Planning Report, Nigeria had nearly 1.3 million unintended pregnancies in 2018, yet only 13.8 percent of Nigerian women utilised contraception at the same time.

Continued:  https://independent.ng/increasing-use-of-family-planning-as-strategy-to-lower-maternal-mortality/


PAHO and partners launch campaign to reduce maternal mortality in Latin America and the Caribbean

Every hour, a woman loses her life in the region due to complications in pregnancy, childbirth or postpartum, the vast majority of which are preventable.

PAHO  / WHO
8 Mar 2023 

Washington DC - The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) together with other United Nations agencies and partners, today launched a campaign to encourage countries in Latin American and the Caribbean to reduce maternal mortality, which increased by 15% between 2016 and 2020.

Around 8,400 women die each year in the region from complications in pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum. High blood pressure, severe bleeding, and complications from unsafe abortion are the most common causes. However, nine out of ten of these deaths are preventable through quality care, access to contraception and by reducing inequities in access to care.

Continued: https://reliefweb.int/report/world/paho-and-partners-launch-campaign-reduce-maternal-mortality-latin-america-and-caribbean


Preventing Needless Deaths Of Nigerian Women During Child Birth

By Chioma Umeha
On Apr 1, 2022

For decades, the question of why so many Nigerian women die during childbirth has remained unanswered.  Nigeria has one of the highest maternal death rates in the world, according to available data.

The country’s mortality ratio of 512 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births far surpasses the global average of 254 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.

Continued: https://independent.ng/preventing-needless-deaths-of-nigerian-women-during-child-birth/


India – State of World Population Report: A case for action in the neglected crisis of unintended pregnancy

by Oneindia Correspondent
Thursday, March 31, 2022

The State of World Population (SoWP) is an annual report published by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the sexual and reproductive health agency of the United Nations.

Each edition covers and analyses developments and trends in world population and demographics, as well as shedding light on specific regions, countries and population groups and the unique challenges they face. Each year, SoWP focuses on a particular theme and presents an in-depth analysis on the subject matter covered. The SoWP 2022 brings the spotlight to a critical theme: Expecting more: The preventable crisis of unintended pregnancy.

Continued: https://www.oneindia.com/india/state-of-world-population-report-a-case-for-action-in-the-neglected-crisis-of-unintended-pregnancy-3390013.html?story=2


Nigeria – Unsafe Abortion: The Real Pandemic

November 25, 2021

Study Results by Performance Monitoring Action in 2014, with updated dissemination by Lagos State in March 2021, revealed that 6000 Nigerian women die from unsafe abortion-related complications every 12 months. Ayodeji Ake reports

“My mother must not know, she will develop high blood pressure” she said unhappily. Those were the words of Beauty, a 25-year-old damsel who resides in a small apartment with her mother and seven siblings in one of the rural areas in the federal capital territory, Abuja.

Continued: https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2021/11/25/unsafe-abortion-the-real-pandemic/


Nigeria – Need for access to sexual, reproductive healthcare services for women, girls

September 20, 2021
By Nnamdi Eseme, The Nation

Sexual and reproductive healthcare worldwide is rapidly evolving with progress being made on adolescent sexual and reproductive health however, Nigeria’s healthcare sector is still running behind to meet up. In this letter, we discuss some areas where Nigeria is lagging and hopes it serves as a call to action to improve sexual and reproductive healthcare especially of young people, women and girls in the country.

Nigeria in recent times has seen her population growing massively with world experts predicting that by 2050, the country will become one of the most populous in the world. This is despite the many challenges she grapples with including poor health, unemployment, insecurity, poverty, among others. Accessing quality healthcare is a major problem in the country and for many women and girls, healthcare includes abortion services.

Continued: https://thenationonlineng.net/need-for-access-to-sexual-reproductive-healthcare-services-for-women-girls/


World leaders urged to improve access to safe abortion services

Source: Nestor Kafui Adjomah 
 12 August 2021

Chief Executive Officer of Global Media Foundation (GLOMeF), Raphael Godlove Ahenu, has called on world leaders to make safe abortion accessible to every woman who requests it.

According to him, “estimates from 2006 shows
that, in developing countries, the yearly cost for treating complications from
unsafe abortion amounts to US$ 553 million and US$ 6 billion for treating
post-abortion infertility across the world”.

Continued: https://www.myjoyonline.com/world-leaders-urged-to-improve-access-to-safe-abortion-services/