Maternity Foundation broadens its focus on women’s health
In the coming months, Maternity Foundation will launch several new services to help advance women’s health, in particular women’s sexual and reproductive health.
The services have been developed in response to the needs of healthcare workers, who continue to provide assistance to pregnant and laboring women despite the myriad challenges brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic and other recent crises, which have disrupted health systems around the world. Research from WHO shows that maternal mortality rates in more African countries have increased during the pandemic. Likewise, some countries have seen spikes in teenage pregnancies, and in places like Ukraine, there is a critical need to invest in maternal healthcare to help ensure safer childbirths for the thousands of women expected to give birth in the coming time.
“Much progress made on women’s health are now being rolled back due to the Covid-19 pandemic and in addition, there are several crises around the world limiting women’s access to maternal healthcare. Now is the time to turn the tide. I’m happy that Maternity Foundation is getting ready to launch new digital health services. Together with United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), other partners and midwives on the ground, we’ll work to further advance women’s sexual and reproductive health,” says Anna Frellsen, CEO in Maternity Foundation.
New modules in the Safe Delivery App
The new services consist of clinical modules that will be added to Maternity Foundation’s digital tool, the Safe Delivery App, which is a professional job aid and digital training and learning tool for midwives and other healthcare workers.
Having reached more than 300,000 healthcare workers across more than 40 countries around the world, Maternity Foundation’s Safe Delivery App and other services has helped empower midwives and other healthcare workers across the world to ensure safer births for millions of women and their newborns.
Up until now, the Safe Delivery App has focused on providing guidance on the most common pregnancy and childbirth related complications, including severe bleeding, infections, high blood pressure and complications during delivery. In response to requests from midwives and in recognition of the role that they play in addressing unmet need for family planning globally, this update will see a specific module on family planning added to the Safe Delivery App. Another new module on safe abortion will also be launched, which will help to combat unsafe abortion as the cause of an estimated 10% of all maternal deaths. The third and final updated content will include a new module on maternal mental health, reflecting the growing understanding of the importance of supporting women with mental health during and after pregnancy.
“In Maternity Foundation we work to end preventable maternal deaths by empowering midwives. So far, we have focused on providing guidance on how to handle childbirth complications. Now, we will broaden our health focus to better meet the needs of the midwives as well as women in the worlds low- and middle-income countries,” says Anna Frellsen, CEO Maternity Foundation.
