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Fortney, Judith A.

doi:10.1016/j.ijgo.2004.12.004

Cited by 2 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…The absence of such a tradition in safe motherhood studies may be one reason that cross-country differences in maternal mortality levels remain largely unexplained. Consensus may be developing concerning which health services are most critical for maternal mortality reduction (Fortney 2005;World Health Organization 2005). However, these are determinants only at the funnel's narrow end.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Scholars have assessed the degree to which the presence of skilled birth attendants can make a difference at a population level (Graham, Bell, and Bullough 2001;Ronsmans et al 2001;Ross, Campbell, and Bulatao 2001) and have evaluated the importance of basic and emergency obstetric care in the event of complications at childbirth (Koblinsky, Campbell, and Heichelheim 1999;Maine et al 1996;Ronsmans et al 1997;Paxton et al 2005). One of the more contentious debates has been whether scarce resources should be concentrated on ensuring the presence of skilled attendants at all births or on making emergency obstetric care available for women who experience complications at delivery (Maine 1993;Maine and Rosenfield 1999;Tinker and Koblinsky 1993;Weil and Fernandez 1999), although more recently there has been recognition of the need for these interventions to work in tandem (Fortney 2005;World Health Organization 2005b) and to be integrated into efforts to strengthen health systems as a whole (World Health Organization 2005b).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Political History and Disparities in Safe Motherhood Between Guatemala and Honduras

Shiffman

Valle²

2006

Population & Development Review

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Each year, worldwide, more than 500,000 women die of complications from childbirth, making this a leading cause of death globally for adult women of reproductive age. Nearly all studies that have sought to explain the persistence of high maternal mortality levels have focused on the supply of and demand for particular health services. We argue that inquiry on health services is useful but insufficient. Robust explanations for safe motherhood outcomes require examination of factors lying deeper in the causal chain. We compare the cases of Guatemala and Honduras to examine historical and structural influences on maternal mortality. Despite being a poorer country than Guatemala, Honduras has a superior safe motherhood record. We argue that four historical and structural factors stand behind this difference: Honduras's relatively stable and Guatemala's turbulent modern political history; the presence of a marginalized indigenous population in Guatemala, but not in Honduras, that the state has had difficulty reaching; a conservative Catholic Church that has played a larger role in Guatemala than Honduras in blocking priority for reproductive health; and more effective advocacy for maternal mortality reduction in Honduras than Guatemala in the face of this opposition. Copyright 2006 The Population Council, Inc..

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Political History and Disparities in Safe Motherhood Between Guatemala and Honduras

Shiffman

Valle²

2006

Population & Development Review

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“…Since the launch of a global safe motherhood initiative at a conference in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1987, advances have been made in medical and technical research on maternal mortality. Researchers have identified the leading biomedical causes of maternal death in childbirth, 3 refined means of measuring maternal mortality 4 and accumulated evidence concerning which health services are needed to prevent maternal death in childbirth 5 . One critical concern, however, is underemphasized in research and remains poorly understood: what causes governments to pay attention to the issue of maternal mortality reduction in the first place?…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The state of political priority for safe motherhood in Nigeria

Shiffman

Ved

2007

BJOG

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Achieving the ambitious maternal mortality reduction aims of the Millennium Development Goals will require more than generating sufficient donor support and carrying out appropriate medical interventions. It also will necessitate convincing governments in developing countries to give the cause political priority. The generation of political priority, however, is a subject that has received minimal research attention. In this article, we assess the state of political priority for maternal mortality reduction in Nigeria, which has more maternal deaths in childbirth than any country except India. We also identify challenges that advocates face in promoting priority. We find that after decades of neglect, a policy window has opened for safe motherhood in Nigeria, giving hope for future maternal mortality reduction. However, priority is as yet in its infancy, as advocates have yet to coalesce into a potent political force pushing the government to action. The case of Nigeria suggests that there is an urgent need for safe motherhood policy communities in countries with high maternal mortality to transform their moral and technical authority into political power, pushing policy‐makers to action. We offer a number of suggestions on how they may do so.

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Editor's comment

Cited by 2 publications

References 4 publications

Political History and Disparities in Safe Motherhood Between Guatemala and Honduras

Political History and Disparities in Safe Motherhood Between Guatemala and Honduras

The state of political priority for safe motherhood in Nigeria

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