Figure from Benova et al. 2019 This post, by Yeeun Lee, a Master’s Student at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Research Assistant at the Maternal Health Task Force (MHTF), was originally published on the MHTF site. Whether you know it or not, indicator validity matters to you. To illustrate why, let’s take the problem of disrespect and abuse (D&A) of women during childbirth. D&A is a violation…
Continue reading “Meaning and Measurement, Towards High EPMM Indicator Validity”
This post, by Yeeun Lee, a Master’s Student at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Research Assistant at the Maternal Health Task Force (MHTF), was originally published on the MHTF site. In 2018, the What Women Want campaign listened to the healthcare demands of 1.2 million women and girls in 114 countries to amplify their voices and better understand what they want for their own reproductive and maternal health.…
This post, by Emily Gerson, Research Assistant at the Maternal Health Task Force (MHTF), was originally published on the MHTF site. Every day, over 800 women die during pregnancy or childbirth due to preventable causes. Despite global advancements in health system capacity, medical technology, and gender equality, maternal mortality and morbidity remain high. Women and societies deserve better, and we as maternal health advocates must step up to verify that…
Continue reading “How can measurement drive accountability in maternal and newborn health?”
This post, by Bethany Kotlar, MPH, Associate Directer of the Maternal Health Task Force (MHTF), was originally published on the MHTF site. “What gets measured is what matters.” This saying raises the question: who decides what matters? Establishing global targets and strategies can help countries galvanize political will, global and domestic funding, and focus attention on improving maternal health. At the same time, the global measurement frameworks that track…
Continue reading “Who decides what matters in maternal and newborn health measurement?”
This post was originally published on the Maternal Health Task Force (MHTF) site. By: Staff, Maternal Health Task Force In the fight to end preventable maternal mortality worldwide, measurement may not be the most pressing task on every maternal health professional’s mind. However, without relevant, useful, and valid measures, tracking progress towards goals is impossible. Maternal and newborn health measurement may sound like a complicated and highly technical field but…
Continue reading “New Blog Series: Examining the “big questions” in maternal health measurement”
This post, by Karla Berdichevsky, Director of the National Center on Gender Equity and Reproductive Health Ministry of Health, was originally published on MacArthur Foundation Website. Karla Berdichevsky of Mexico’s Ministry of Health discusses how public and civil society partnerships are essential to achieving sexual and reproductive health goals. Establishing strategic public and civil society partnerships is essential to achieving sexual and reproductive health goals in Mexico. Here at the National…
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By Nisha Singh, Advocacy Officer, White Ribbon Alliance The COVID-19 pandemic has awoken the world to some hard truths: our global health systems are weak, and inequities and challenges often hit pregnant women and newborns the hardest. Before COVID-19, many pregnant women in low- and middle-income countries already had difficulty accessing health facilities, skilled birth attendants and quality care. Now, these same health facilities lack the financing, equipment and adequate…
In the SDG era, significant attention in the maternal and newborn health sphere has turned to measurement to track progress towards the global and national targets for reducing maternal and newborn deaths. As the scoping review published by the MoNITOR group in 2018 emphasizes, a critical step towards ending preventable deaths of mothers and newborns is conducting research to validate indicators (Moller et al, 2018). A number of initiatives that…
This post by Kimberly Whipkey, Advocacy Manager at White Ribbon Alliance (WRA), was originally published on the WRA blog on July 24, 2019. Nearly five years into the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) era, maternal mortality rates worldwide are still unacceptably high. Why? It’s not for a lack of technical know-how. Many countries have made great strides in making interventions available to address the immediate causes of maternal death and disability, such as…
Continue reading “Ending Preventable Maternal Mortality: What Will It Take?”
The Improving Maternal Health Measurement Capacity and Use (IMHM) project is led by the Women & Health Initiative at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health. This project aims to improve measurement capacity for maternal health through a) the development and validation of indicators to inform global standards, and b) support to countries for the adoption and use of the indicators. Our work is supported and enhanced by our broad network of partners and…
