Maternal health

A national survey of Canadian women’s experiences, perceptions, knowledge and practices before conception and during pregnancy, birth and the early months of parenthood. A project of the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Canadian Perinatal Surveillance System, which monitors and reports on determinants and outcomes of maternal, fetal and infant health in Canada. 

Aims to establish a common vision and approach, as well as to identify the role of the World Health Organization (WHO) Making Pregnancy Safer initiative. Discusses working with women, men, families and communities to improve maternal and newborn health.

Reports that the number of women dying due to complications during pregnancy and childbirth decreased by 34% from an estimated 546 000 in 1990 to 358 000 in 2008. The authors says the progress is notable, but that the annual rate of decline is less than half of what is needed to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target of reducing the maternal mortality ratio by 75% between 1990 and 2015. This will require an annual decline of 5.5%. The 34% decline since 1990 translates into an average annual decline of just 2.3%.

A literature review that examines the health implications of obesity and overweight in pregnancy, starting with the physical health of women and children and moving on to a consideration of some of the social determinants of health. The review closes with a synthesis of findings and recommendations for further research.

Part of a series of United Nations online discussions dedicated to the fifteen-year review of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995) and the outcomes of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly (2000),

From the introduction:

“Over half a million women die each year due to complications during pregnancy and birth. The vast majority of these deaths are preventable. At the Millennium Summit in 2000, States resolved to reduce maternal mortality by three quarters by the year 2015. This commitment is encapsulated in the Millennium Development Goals, which derive from the Millennium Summit commitments, and which have come to play a defining role in international development efforts. Goal 5 is a commitment to improve maternal health: the reduction of maternal mortality is an outcome chosen to assess progress in this regard. This resolve by States to reduce maternal mortality is not new. However, never before has the issue been given such prominence on the international development agenda.”

The aim of this study was to develop a better understanding of the issues surrounding teen pregnancy among Aboriginal women, in order to adequately respond to the needs of young Aboriginal mothers through effective policies, programs and practices.

Summarizes the report by the Prairie Women’s Health Centre of Excellence (PWHCE) entitled Young Aboriginal Mothers in Winnipeg published in May 2009 which states that more than one in five First Nations babies were born to mothers aged 15 to 19 years in 1999.

Describes the collaborative models of maternity care as documented in The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, France and Australia.