Boosting Maternal Health with Local Partnerships and Flexible Funding

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 Comotion, Global Fund for Women and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s Birth Justice Initiative (BJI): 📝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. Whether you're part of a movement, a donor, policymaker or an advocate, please read them, share them and join the conversation. #BirthJustice #MaternalHealth #NewbornHealth

What if philanthropy did more than fund programs, what if it helped communities become part of the solution? That’s the question Every Pregnancy is answering. We bring together faith-inspired philanthropy, institutional funders, public giving, and trusted locally rooted organizations around one shared purpose: making pregnancy and childbirth safer for every mother and newborn. Our collaborative model moves beyond traditional top-down giving by bridging the gap between resources, proven solutions, and the mothers and newborns who need them most. This is why new approaches to financing maternal and newborn health matter. Every $1 invested in basic emergency obstetric and newborn care and family planning can generate an estimated return of $71.50. At a time when traditional financing is under pressure, Every Pregnancy is helping demonstrate how innovative, collaborative philanthropy can strengthen local leadership and make every dollar work harder. Our approach is featured in FP Analytics’ latest publication, Saving Lives and Growing Economies by Financing Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Read the full publication: https://lnkd.in/drzx4NYJ #EveryPregnancy #MaternalHealth #NewbornHealth #HealthFinancing #GlobalHealth #FPAnalytics #GatesFoundation

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

🤱 When Displacement Threatens Pregnancy: What Somalia Teaches Us In Somalia, millions of people have been forced to leave their homes because of war and drought. Pregnant women in these camps face life-or-death challenges. A new review of research looked at what keeps these mothers from getting prenatal care and what helps. The barriers are real: camps are far from clinics, mothers have no money for transportation, insecurity keeps health workers away, and many women lack power to make their own health decisions. But hope exists. Community health workers bring care directly to families. Women's groups offer support. Mobile clinics reach remote camps. When governments and aid organizations work together, more mothers get the help they need. The key finding? Displaced pregnant women and newborns survive and thrive when three things happen: communities are engaged, care is respectful and safe, and services reach the most forgotten mothers. This research shows: displacement doesn't erase our responsibility to protect mothers. It demands we work smarter. 📎 Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/exShjCum #SomaliaHealth #DisplacedPopulations #MaternalHealth #HumanitarianCrisis #AntenatalCare #CommunityHealthWorkers #ConflictAffected #PregnantWomen #MothersCare #MaternalMortality #MaternalHealth #MHRC

Health inequalities in the UK are starkly reflected in breastfeeding data. Lower breastfeeding rates are consistently found among younger mothers, white mothers from deprived areas, and those experiencing poverty and food insecurity — groups that stand to benefit most from breastfeeding's protective health effects. In 2024, 30% of all children in the UK — 4.3 million — were reported to be living in poverty. Against this backdrop, WBTi UK's 2024 Report highlights the failure to include infants and young children in emergency preparedness planning (scoring  0/10 across all nations), as well as the inadequacy of Healthy Start payments for the most disadvantaged families. A sustainable start in life that "strengthens what works" must have equity at its centre. WBTi UK calls on governments across all four nations to address these structural gaps as a matter of urgency. 📄 https://lnkd.in/eg8cq3kQ #WBW2026 #HealthEquity #ChildPoverty #InfantFeeding #WBTiUK #PublicHealth #SDGs #WABA

This work from our WBTi team really echoes the foundation of my own PhD research- All babies deserve a sustainable start to life - they are the most vulnerable in any emergency too, and deserve to have policies ans systems in place for them to be safe and to thrive. #BreastfeedingForASustainableStartInLife #StrengthenWhatWorks #SDGs #WBW2026

The cost of being born in the wrong place. Here's a statistic that deserves more attention than it gets: 260,000 women died worldwide in 2023 from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. That's roughly 712 women every single day most of them from causes we know how to prevent. The good news first: global maternal mortality fell 40% between 2000 and 2023. That's real, hard-won progress. But it's not evenly shared. In sub-Saharan Africa, the maternal mortality ratio sits at 454 deaths per 100,000 live births compared to just 3 in Australia and New Zealand. The region alone accounts for roughly 70% of all global maternal deaths. Put another way: a woman's lifetime risk of dying from childbirth is 1 in 55 in sub-Saharan Africa, versus 1 in 14,000 in Western Europe. In fragile, conflict-affected countries like Chad, that risk climbs as high as 1 in 24. This isn't a story about medicine failing. It's a story about access to skilled birth attendants, to emergency obstetric care, to community health workers who can catch warning signs early. What actually helps: ✅ A skilled attendant present at every birth ✅ Investment in emergency obstetric care ✅ Trained community health workers for early referral ✅ Targeted funding for the fragile, conflict-affected regions where risk is highest Progress here isn't just clinical — it's logistical, relational, and deeply human. #GlobalHealth #MaternalHealth #SDG3 #PublicHealth #InternationalDevelopment

Family planning remains one of the most effective interventions for reducing maternal mortality, preventing unintended pregnancies, and securing the futures of young girls. Yet, unmet need persists in Kenya, even as reproductive health funding shrinks and essential commodity supplies become increasingly uncertain. While the country has made progress in reducing maternal deaths, far too many women and girls still face preventable risks during pregnancy and childbirth. Through our RMNCAH (reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health) work in the counties, we continue to see stark disparities in access and outcomes; adolescent girls, in particular, face the steepest barriers. Their health, education, and future opportunities are heavily shaped by their ability to obtain timely sexual and reproductive health. A few days ago, we marked World Population Day, where we paused to recognize that healthier populations begin with healthier communities, where women and girls represent a key foundational pillar. Being #OnHerSide means making access a reality on all fronts. This requires safeguarding vital contraceptive services, strengthening health systems, and protecting hard-won gains across the RMNCAH spectrum. Accountability efforts such as Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response (MPDSR) and Rapid Results Initiatives (RRI), are critical steps toward identifying service gaps and accelerating action where it is needed most. Sustaining this progress, however, will require continued financial investment, resilient supply chains, and data-driven decision-making. #WPD2026 #MaternalHealth #ChildHealth #FamilyPlanning #SafeMotherhood #EWENE #OnHerSide Africa Amref Health Africa FP2030 Gates Foundation Africa United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) UNICEF World Health Organization African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC)

US fertility is at record lows amid scarce, costly housing. One factor: empty-nesters and retirees rarely downsize, concentrating homes among the elderly and squeezing young families in their prime childbearing years. New paper explores the link. "Limited Downsizing of Empty-Nesters: Elderly Housing Concentration and Fertility" by Ursula Berresheim, Marina Hoch is now available: https://lnkd.in/eiFmGrQf

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