Improving Maternal and Newborn Health through Community Leadership

In #Turkana County, advancing maternal and newborn health does not always mean looking for something new. Sometimes, the answer is already within the community. It is in the women who know their neighbours, understand their culture and speak the language that mothers speak every day. These women serve as Community Health Promoters (CHPs), walking alongside families and bringing health information closer to home. They speak to mothers in a language they understand, explain the importance of antenatal care and skilled birth attendance, share information on danger signs and encourage families to seek care early when it matters most. For a mother, listening to this information from a woman who understands her community and speaks her language can make healthcare feel less distant and more accessible. It builds trust. It makes conversations easier. And that trust can influence decisions that can mean better outcomes for both mother and newborn. This is what we are advocating for in Turkana County: using what is already locally available to advance maternal and newborn health. Advancing #MNH is not about bringing in more solutions from outside. It is about recognizing the knowledge, voices and people already within communities and investing in them to reach more mothers and newborns. #TurkanaCounty #MaternalNewbornHealth #CommunityHealthPromoters #LocallyLed #MNH #WhatWomenWant United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) World Health Organization

Improving maternal and newborn health requires more than stronger health services. It also requires investment in the people, organisations and movements working every day to improve outcomes in our communities. That’s why I’m proud to be working with Comotion, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and Global Fund for Women on the Birth Justice Initiative (BJI), which aims to direct resources to grassroots leaders so communities can shape the systems that govern their health! Our two new reports offer practical insights for funders, policymakers, advocates and movement leaders working to strengthen maternal and newborn health: 📝 The Birth Justice Narrative Report explores how grassroots leaders across diverse contexts understand birth, care, autonomy and justice. It offers a shared language for movements working across interconnected issues: https://lnkd.in/dErUcgsM 💸 The Birth Justice Donor Policy Report builds on those insights to show how funders can better support maternal and newborn health by investing in locally-led, feminist approaches through long-term, flexible funding: https://lnkd.in/dU4UsScz Together, they offer practical insights for anyone working to improve maternal and newborn health by strengthening community leadership, advancing dignity and rights, and supporting locally-led solutions. Whether you're part of a movement, a donor, policymaker or an advocate, read them, share them and join the conversation! #BirthJustice #MaternalHealth #NewbornHealth

I recently read an article on expanding support systems for Black maternal health, and it reinforced something I've seen throughout my work: improving outcomes requires more than access to healthcare. It also requires trusted community support, investment in families, and listening to Black women's experiences. Through my work in maternal and child health, I've seen the impact of peer support, direct assistance programs, community partnerships, and resource navigation in helping families thrive. Black maternal health is not just a healthcare issue. It's an equity issue, a systems issue, and a community issue. Continued investment in community-based organizations and culturally responsive support will be essential to creating lasting change. This article is a great reminder that the conversation must continue year-round. 💜 #BlackMaternalHealth #MaternalHealth #HealthEquity #BirthEquity #PublicHealth #CommunityImpact #BirthJustice #MaternalHealthMatters https://lnkd.in/evBeWRjD

We're honored to share that Boston COPHI has been selected to present at the 2026 National Community Leadership Summit in Boston! Our Lightning Talk, "Birth Justice in Action: Community Solutions to Maternal Health Inequities," will highlight how community-based doula care, cross-sector partnerships, and culturally responsive approaches can help advance birth equity and improve maternal health outcomes. We're proud to represent Boston and share the collaborative work being done to support Black and historically underserved families. We look forward to learning alongside birth workers, healthcare professionals, researchers, advocates, and community leaders from across the country. Thank you to our partners, doulas, families, and community members who make this work possible. Together, we're building more equitable maternal health systems. The Summit will take place October 22–23, 2026, in Boston, Massachusetts, bringing together birth workers, healthcare professionals, researchers, community leaders, and advocates from across the country to share strategies that improve maternal health outcomes.  #BirthJustice #MaternalHealth #BirthEquity #CommunityHealth #DoulaCare #BlackMaternalHealth #BostonCOPHI #HealthyStart #PublicHealth #CommunityLeadershipSummit

Improving maternal and newborn health requires more than stronger health services. It also requires investment in the people, organisations and movements working every day to improve outcomes in their communities.   That's why we're excited to share two new resources from the Birth Justice Initiative (BJI), a project we launched last year in partnership with Global Fund for Women and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office:   📝 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗶𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗡𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 explores how grassroots leaders across diverse contexts understand birth, care, autonomy and justice. It offers a shared language for movements working across interconnected issues: https://lnkd.in/dyXRfRCb 💸 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗶𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗗𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 builds on those insights to show how funders can better support maternal and newborn health by investing in locally-led, feminist approaches through long-term, flexible funding: https://lnkd.in/dfKaZYMW   Together, these reports offer practical insights for anyone working to improve maternal and newborn health by strengthening community leadership, advancing dignity and rights, and supporting locally-led solutions.   So whether you're part of a movement, a donor, policymaker or an advocate, please read them, please help amplify this critical work by sharing them and joining the conversation.   #BirthJustice #MaternalHealth #NewbornHealth GIWYN Nigeria Ijeoma Rita Egwuatu tina lubayo Fadekemi Akinfaderin Fòs Feminista Comrade Olubunmi Lawal-Aiyedun Third Sector Builders

📣 JFF is pleased to announce three new grantee partners expanding maternal health support across Cleveland: Zelie's Home, Pregnant With Possibilities Resource Center, and Partnership for Good Health! Together, they represent a full continuum of care, from community-based education and emergency stabilization services to long-term residential support for pregnant and parenting women facing the greatest barriers to care. These grants reflect our continued commitment to strengthening maternal and infant health outcomes for families right here in Cleveland and around the world. 🎉 Join us in celebrating these organizations and the vital work they are doing every day for mothers & families in the community! Read more about our grantees and their work here: https://lnkd.in/gedpdBgY #MaternalHealth #Cleveland #CommunityHealth

Global progress on maternal and newborn health has stalled. Poverty, disability, adolescent pregnancy, conflict and climate change continue to put millions of women and babies at unnecessary risk. There is a different path forward. Funders can have a far greater impact by investing in the organisations already embedded in communities—those that understand local realities, have earned trust, and are improving maternal and newborn health every day, often with very limited resources. Long-term, flexible funding gives these organisations the stability to strengthen health systems, respond to changing needs, and create lasting change. Last year, Comotion partnered with the UK's @Foriegn, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and Global Fund for Women to launch the Birth Justice Initiative (BJI). The initiative explored how funding can better support grassroots organisations leading change for women, babies and communities. Its newly released Donor Policy Report offers practical recommendations for donors, policymakers and development partners looking to make their investments more effective, equitable and locally led. If you care about improving maternal and newborn health, this report is well worth reading. Read it here and share widely: https://lnkd.in/eie6XjSW

“I’m already stretched so thin, and it’s frustrating because you want to give your kids this life but you can’t keep up with expenses.” The 74 Media adeptly captured the 'survival' mode that so many families with young children are experiencing right now. Including, frankly, my own. We're running a small farm with two additional full-time jobs and child care expenses for two kids under 5. We are stretched and stressed this summer, and I know we aren't alone. I live in a rural area of Southwest Michigan and I see on a daily basis the single parents working 2nd and 3rd shift jobs just trying to get by. They reach out and ask if we have any eggs we will donate for their kids to eat. Texts I have received include: "We can't afford full price, but this is all my child will eat today." "Could we stop by at 9 p.m. ? Our only car broke down and I don't have a ride." My colleague recently told me that the world you wish for exists somewhere already in the world. The world I wish for my family and the families in my community does exist already in America. But it's exclusively available. People in power are living it while denying it for others: Secretary Leavitt taking 3 months of paid maternity leave and Senator McConnell taking more paid medical leave than most birthing individuals are able to take immediately postpartum. I used to think our community had forgotten how to dream. But I was wrong. I now think that the intentional effort to keep our communities in survival mode prevents them from dreaming or fighting for what life could be like, even when an example exists right in front of them. I am grateful to my boss, Jeff Capizzano, for bringing this to the forefront of the minds of members of Congress. If you haven't read his Congressional testimony, yet, you should. It outlines a call for us to do something beyond dream: take action and build the world we want our children to prepare for. https://lnkd.in/gqhvkhZe

What was most compelling about testifying in front of the Congressional Mama's Caucus is the way the organizer, Mothering Justice, made sure that the early childhood research and best practices that I highlighted stood beside the lived experiences of mothers and practitioners. My fellow panelists, Shannet Williams (the mother of Amber Thurman) and Charnise Littles (a lactation consultant from Maryland), told amazing, heartfelt stories that brought home the need for reproductive rights and better access to culturally matched postpartum care. It was an honor to present with them. You can read my written testimony, and more of my thoughts, in the newsletter below.

Maternal deaths are not evenly distributed. Roughly 87% of them occur in Southern Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, with the latter alone accounting for nearly 70%. By contrast, high-income countries experience far lower rates, although stark inequities remain. In the United States, for example, Black women are more than three times as likely as white women to die from maternity-related causes. My latest piece for Project Syndicate. https://lnkd.in/eaM2-bxr