The experience of Ghana in implementing a user fee exemption policy to provide free delivery care.
Abstract: In resource-poor countries, the high cost of user fees for deliveries limits access to skilled attendance, and contributes to maternal and neonatal mortality and the impoverishment of vulnerable households. A growing number of countries are experimenting with different approaches to tackling financial barriers to maternal health care. This...

The current global effort to prevent postpartum haemorrhage: how likely is it to be effective?
Abstract This paper outlines the global effort by health professional agencies to reduce maternal deaths by managing the third stage of labour actively. It explores the tensions in the way midwifery and obstetric practice changes evolve, and are implemented, within developing and developed worlds. It questions the...

Pakistan: multifaceted approach reduces infant deaths.
A Population Council project has succeeded in significantly reducing perinatal deaths (including stillbirths and neonatal deaths) in Dera Ghazi Khan, a predominantly rural district in Pakistan's Punjab province. The project addresses multiple factors that contribute to maternal and infant deaths. "This project shows that simple actions, such as educating...

Don't pit adoptive moms against biological moms.
The Federal Court of Appeal has created a new creature. She's called the 'reasonable adoptive mother.' Apparently, this creature shouldn't be demeaned in any way by the fact biological mothers get almost four months more employment leave from work than adoptive mothers. According to the court, the...

Seizing the big missed opportunity: linking HIV and maternity care services in sub-Saharan Africa.
Abstract: This paper draws on two reviews commissioned by the UK Department for International Development in 2006-2007 that explore progress in linking HIV prevention and maternity services in sub-Saharan Africa. Although pilot and demonstration projects have been successful, progress in scaling up PMTCT has been slow, reaching just 17%...

Pregnancy discrimination in Latin America: the exclusion of "employment discrimination" from the definition of "labor laws" in the Central American Free Trade Agreement.
Regional trading blocs and bilateral trade agreements have become increasingly important within the western hemisphere. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement, and the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) have all been passed in the last fifteen years. This Article will focus principally...

Call for study participants.
Registered Nurse and Midwife Dr Jenny Kelly is studying the experiences of lesbian/same sex attracted women who had a baby in a public hospital in Victoria between 2000-2006. The study is jointly funded by the Australian Lesbian Medical Association (ALMA) and the Aids Council of NSW (ACON) and aims...

UN vows support for government efforts on women concerns.
Byline: CHARISSA M. LUCI Marking the International Women's Day celebration, the United Nations yesterday pledged anew to support the Philippine government's efforts at addressing all forms of violence against women. Dr. Nicholas Alipui, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) representative and chairman of the UN Gender...

Escala de Edinburgh para depresion posparto: consistencia interna y estructura factorial en mujeres embarazadas de Cartagena, Colombia.
RESUMEN Objetivos: determinar la consistencia interna y la estructura de factores de la escala de Edinburgh para depresión posparto en mujeres embarazadas de Cartagena, Colombia. Materiales y método: se diseñó un estudio de validación de un instrumento de tamizaje sin patrón de oro (metodológico), de...

Other resources.
AbouZahr, Carla. 2003. Safe Motherhood: A Brief History of the Global Movement 1947-2002. British Medical Bulletin. Vol. 67:13-25. ACCESS. 2007. Demystifying Community Mobilization: An Effective Strategy to Improve Maternal and Newborn Health. Baltimore, USA: ACCESS. 30p. http://www.accesstohealth.org/toolres/pdfs/ACCESS_ DemystCM.pdf Center for Reproductive Rights. Surviving Pregnancy and...