Our exhaustive list of terrific sites on maternal and newborn health

• All Mothers Matter

  this 2009 report by Merlin in the UK outlines the link between the health worker crisis in fragile states and high levels of maternal mortality.  The campaign, Hands Up for Health Workers, was launched with this report.

• Countdown to 2015

  WHO report tracking coverage of evidence-based interventions in 60+ countries accounting for 97% of maternal deaths, 2008

• Women Deliver

  Women Deliver works to sustain political commitment and investment for MDG5 at global, regional, and national levels to improve maternal and newborn health and ensure universal access to reproductive health.

• White Ribbon Alliance

  is a global movement spanning 140 countries and making women's survival in childbirth a priority.

• Eldis news

  put together by IDS has great information on key topics in development policy including women's health.

• UNFPA Fact Sheet on Maternal Death
• LiST: The Lives Saved Tool

  This new computer-based tool allows users to set up and run multiple scenarios to look at the estimated impact of different intervention packages and coverage levels for their countries, states or districts.

• UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: Annual Report 2012

  This report by the UNFPA documents activities for the Joint Programme in its 5th year of implementation in 15 African countries. It also documents achievements in the promotion of FGM/C abandonment thanks to evidence-based strategies identified in 2008.

• State of World Population 2013 | Motherhood in Childhood

  This UNFPA report studies the challenges of adolescent pregnancy and provides new statistics on how it affects girls' education, health and future economic productivity. It also provides solutions on how to curb this trend and protect girls' human rights and well-being.

BEST PRACTICES

• Implementing Best Practices for Reproductive Health

  This site links 307 communities in a discussion on 'gold standards' for introduction, utilization and scaling-up of evidence-based practices and/or proven effective practices in reproductive health.

• Pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum and newborn care: A guide for essential practice

  Pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum and newborn care: A guide for essential practice evidence-based recommendations for health workers authored by the World Health Organization, United Nations Population Fund, UNICEF, The World Bank.

• Human Resources for Maternal Survival

  This site includes all of the presentations from a key meeting in Ethiopia on 'Task Shifting to non-physician clinicians'. The conference brought together Ministers of Health from across Africa to discuss task-shifting strategies for countries with chronic physician shortages. Also included are links to the key Lancet articles on maternal health from the last couple of years.

• Women, Children & HIV

  This site aggregates resources on the prevention and treatment of HIV infection in women and children targeted at health workers, program managers, and policy makers in resource-limited settings. It also includes a section on emerging issues.

• Behavior Change

  For behavior change best practices related to childbirth please see The Maternal Survival Toolkit

• PMNCH Essential Commodities

  This piece is a chapter or "Knowledge Summary" created by PMNCH and the University of Aberdeen about the importance of essential commodities accessibility in providing high quality maternal and neonatal health.

• A Global Review of the Key Interventions Related to Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (RMNCH)

  This document is designed for an audience of policy-makers who seek information on the specific health interventions to address the main causes of maternal, newborn and child deaths.
  It is the result of collaborative work among many partners. The process was led by the World Health Organization, Switzerland, and the Aga Khan University, Pakistan. Experts in maternal, newborn and child health participated in meetings in Geneva in April 2010 and September 2011 and provided inputs to the development and finalization of this document. The contributions of the World Health Organization, the Aga Khan University, invited experts and partners are gratefully acknowledged. This publication, and related advocacy material, will be distributed to over 430 PMNCH partners, and other stakeholders, primarily via the PMNCH website and knowledge portal. In addition, it will be distributed, and discussed, at selected RMNCH advocacy events.

• Global Library of Women's Medicine (Safer Motherhood)

  This site has incredible resources including a Textbook for Postpartum Hemorrhage (including a Turkish version). There is also a wall chart on management of postpartum hemorrhage and a manual on obstetric fistula surgery.

• SciDev.Net

  Science and Development Network
  News, views and information about science, technology and the developing world

• WHO Library

  A set of guidelines, developed through the WHO Guideline Development standard, specifically (i) the identificationof questions related to clinical practice and health policy for which answers
  are needed, (ii) the retrieval of up-to-date research-based evidence, (iii) the assessment
  and synthesis of evidence, (iv) the formulation of recommendations using
  input from a wide range of stakeholders, and (v) the formulation of plans for the
  dissemination, implementation, impact evaluation and updating of the guideline.

• EWEC UN Report on Life-Saving Commodities
• WHO OptimizeMNH

  "The World Health Organization’s recommendations on optimizing the roles of health workers aim to help address critical health workforce shortages that slow down progress towards the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)."

• LiST Lives Saved Tool

  An interactive tool developed by John Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health, the LiST visualizer depicts the relationships between maternal and child health interventions, risk factors and causes of death.

• Emergency Obstetric Care Learning Resource Package

  This learning package was developed by the Jhpiego/Maternal and Neonatal Health Program with support from the Averting Maternal Death and Disability Program at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University.

  "This training course is designed to train doctors, midwives and/or nurses with midwifery skills who, as team members, will provide basic and comprehensive Emergency Obstetric Care (EmOC) at district hospitals and health centers to avert maternal death and disability."

• Anesthesia for Emergency Obstetric Care learning package

  This learning package was prepared by the Jhpiego/Maternal and Neonatal Health Program with support from the Averting Maternal Death and Disability Program at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University.

  "This training course is designed to train doctors, midwives and/or nurses with midwifery skills who, as team members, will provide selected anesthesia services for comprehensive and emergency obstetric care (EmOC) at district hospitals to avert maternal death and disability. The emphasis in this course is on rapid assessment and decision-making and clinical action steps based on clinical assessment with limited reliance on laboratory or other tests, suitable for district hospital and health centers in low-resource settings. In addition, throughout the training course emphasis is placed on recognition of and respect for the right of women to life, health, privacy, and dignity. Finally, the setting up and effective day-to-day management of EmOC anesthesia services at district hospitals are included as an integral part of the course."

• Monitoring emergency obstetric care: A Handbook by the UNFPA

  This handbook developed and published by the UNFPA in 2009 is an update of an earlier publication issued in 1997 on monitoring the availability and use of obstetric services. This updated version includes new information based on monitoring and assessment conducted worldwide and the emerging evidence on the topic over the years, and has been agreed by an international panel of experts. The emphasis of this handbook is placed on practical rather than theoretical functioning in order to give guidance on conducting studies to people working in the field.

• Site Assessment and Strengthening for Maternal and Newborn Health Programs

  This toolkit by Jhpieog explains the process that can be used to effectively assess and strengthen facility and individual performance with the goal of improving essential maternal and newborn care services.

ACADEMIC LITERATURE

• Reproductive Health Gateway

  Reproductive Health Gateway is a search engine covering a selection of scholarly web sites dedicated to reproductive health.

• OneSource

  OneSource is a database run by the Johns Hopkins INFO Project that aggregates POPLINE-- the world's largest database on reproductive health with more than 350,000 citations with abstracts to scientific articles, reports, books, and unpublished reports in the field of population, family planning, and related health issues-- as well as the Health Communication Materials Database - the world's largest collection of health communication materials.

BOOKS AND KEY ARTICLES

• Going to Scale with Professional Skilled Care

  Going to Scale with Professional Skilled Care article by Koblinsky et al 2006.

• A Book for Midwives

  A Book for Midwives by the Hesperian Foundation covers the basics of clinical and psychosocial care for community midwives in low-resource settings.

• Life Saving Skills

  Life Saving Skills manuals by American College of Nurse Midwives are a key resource for teaching midwives and ob/gyns in low-resource settings.

• Global Library of Women's Medicine (Safer Motherhood)
• Medicines for Maternal Health: UN Commision on Commodities for Women and Children's Health
• Hesperian Health Guides

  Hesperian allows the creation and customization of free health guides for a variety of health issues.

  Hesperian health guides are developed for communities with limited access to health care. To ensure the conditions and concerns of the people who will use them are at the center of the book development process, our materials are field-tested around the world by grassroots community organizations, health providers, clinics, and individuals. By presenting accurate and actionable health information in a simple, heavily illustrated style, Hesperian makes health information accessible to all, even readers with minimal formal education. Hesperian is working to further increase access to our materials through our interactive digital resource center.

SUCCESS STORIES

• Successful Leadership

  For success stories of 10 countries who have made progress on maternal and child health, this publication by The Partnership for Maternal Child and Newborn Health is succinct and informative.

• Clean Birth Kits Blog by Wandermama

SOCIAL DESIGN WEBSITES

• Design 21

  Social Design Network's mission is to inspire social activism through design. They connect people who want to explore ways design can positively impact our many worlds, and who want to create change here and now.

• Design without Borders

  Design without Borders is founded on the belief that design and designers can make a significant contribution towards a better and more sustainable society. The program aims at utilizing the creative and analytical skills of industrial designers to develop solutions that promote long-term development and increases the quality of emergency aid.

• Design for the other 90%

  This site began as an exhibit by NYC's Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum in 2007. They cover energy, health, agriculture, shelter, transport, education and water. The exhibit, now a live website demonstrates how design can be a dynamic force in saving and transforming lives, at home and around the world.

FILMS

• Bullfrog Films

  Bullfrog Films: Dead Mums Don't Cry

• A Walk to Beautiful

  PBS: A Walk to Beautiful -- film by Mary Olive Smith

• Governess Films: Love, Labor, Loss

  Governess Films: Love, Labor, Loss -- film by Lisa Russell

• Wide Angle

  Wide Angle: PBS film on training midwives in Mozambique

• When Mother Died the Family Fell Apart

  UNFPA: When Mother Died the Family Fell Apart

• Al Jazeera: Witness: Birth in Nepal

  A short film by Subina Shrestha- a Nepali woman who was five months pregnant at the time she made the film- about birth in Nepal. Covers two births, and shows the barriers to safe motherhood that face women in Nepal, including access to quality care (trained professionals, drugs, clean facilities), the stigma of having girls rather than boys, HIV due to migrant labor, and vitamin deficiencies.

  A must watch!

• Every Mother Counts
• Medical Aid Films

  Medical Aid Films' mission is to improve the lives of mothers and newborns in remote areas of the world by sharing information and best practices through health educational and training films that engage all types of audiences.