Birthing targets must go beyond maternal survival
1 month, 3 weeks ago

Birthing targets must go beyond maternal survival

Hindustan Times  

One of India’s greatest public health successes has been the dramatic fall in maternal and infant mortality throughout the 21st century. Usage of harmful, outdated practices happens across India, and even privileged women thus bear a lot of unnecessary morbidity. It is an issue that suffers from sitting at the intersection of India’s challenges in both women’s disempowerment and health care. We need to situate the maternal health conversation within the larger feminist debates on bodily autonomy and women’s rights.

India Women Maternal Health Care  da  care  lack  unnecessary  indias  targets  rights  survival  maternal  health  birthing  women  india

History of this topic

Case to respect and protect women’s reproductive rights
6 months ago

Case to respect and protect women’s reproductive rights

Hindustan Times  

In the late 1990s, the United Nations Population Fund appointed me as the Goodwill Ambassador for South Asia. Several factors including patriarchal attitudes and social norms restricted women’s autonomy in making decisions regarding their sexual and reproductive health, including family planning. However, much remains to be done to achieve India’s Family Planning 2030 vision, which aims to increase access, choice, …

India’s neonatal burden and the challenges ahead
8 months ago

India’s neonatal burden and the challenges ahead

Hindustan Times  

India is home to the largest population in the world. Subsequently, massive emphasis has been laid on reducing child mortality burden – under 5 mortality rate has decreased from improved from 109 deaths per 1,000 live births during 1990s to 42 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2019-21, according to the National Family Health Surveys. It has been promising to …

International Women's Day 2024: 10 Health issues that almost all Indian women face
10 months ago

International Women's Day 2024: 10 Health issues that almost all Indian women face

India TV News  

Indian women encounter a range of health problems impacting their overall well-being. As International Women's Day is approaching here in this article we have explored ten common health concerns among Indian women. Anaemia: According to Dr Rekha Sharma MBBS, DNB Consultant Physician Ruby Hall Wanowrie, a prevalent health issue among Indian women, iron deficiency anaemia is often exacerbated by poor …

Maternal mortality: Pregnancy is 'shockingly dangerous'
11 months, 4 weeks ago

Maternal mortality: Pregnancy is 'shockingly dangerous'

Hindustan Times  

Almost 300,000 people died during pregnancy or childbirth in 2020. The UN report says there had been a small decrease between the years 2000 and 2015, but that since 2016 the global maternal mortality rate has stagnated. "The Sustainable Development Goal target is to reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births …

Limits to women’s reproductive rights
1 year, 2 months ago

Limits to women’s reproductive rights

Hindustan Times  

The issue of whether the Supreme Court or any legal authority should compel a woman to continue a pregnancy against her will is a profoundly intricate and contentious matter. Legal systems strive to strike a balance between competing rights and interests, such as a woman’s right to choose and the rights of a developing foetus. The right to make decisions …

The many challenges of ensuring maternal and child health in India
1 year, 5 months ago

The many challenges of ensuring maternal and child health in India

The Hindu  

As yet another World Breastfeeding Week commences, with hectic educational activity around the mother and her newborn, it would seem the best time to bring attention to what needs to be done in the field of maternal and child healthcare. In India, a total of 1,382 women were polled on the question: “Do you think most pregnant women in the …

Safeguarding Women's Interests on World Population Day
1 year, 5 months ago

Safeguarding Women's Interests on World Population Day

Hindustan Times  

This year's World Population Day theme puts safeguarding women's and girls' interests at the center. Women's rights, especially reproductive health rights, choices, agency, and decision-making abilities, revolve around policies determining the number of children they can have. According to National Family Health Survey, 2019-21, 50% of women from lower socioeconomic groups use contraceptives, which increases to 58% among women from …

Women’s reproductive autonomy as the new catchword
1 year, 6 months ago

Women’s reproductive autonomy as the new catchword

The Hindu  

The theme of this year’s World Population Day, i.e., ‘Unleashing the power of gender equality: Uplifting the voices of women and girls to unlock our world’s infinite possibilities’, could not be more apt for India. In India, the world’s most populous nation, the template for women-led development, be it in science, technology, agriculture, education or health care, must also include …

Male-centric medicine is affecting women’s health
1 year, 6 months ago

Male-centric medicine is affecting women’s health

The Hindu  

“If you were a young boy, I could have offered you a bouquet of medicines. Exactly three decades ago, the U.S. National Institutes of Health Revitalization Act of 1993 mandated the inclusion of “women and minorities” in clinical trials in a bid to reduce health disparities. Generic drugs, trials, mental health In India, the “pharmacy of the world”, the gender …

Care, Rights of Abortion Survivors
1 year, 10 months ago

Care, Rights of Abortion Survivors

Live Law  

The Indian Judiciary in accord to ascertain women’s rights or equality rights strives to locate the possibilityof abortion even after the gestation limit of 24 weeks under section 3 of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 2021. Even lately, while adjudicating a plea of abortion by an unmarried 20-year-old B.Tech student, the Supreme Court prospected the probability and had consulted …

Delivery is still a ‘life-and-death\' question for women of Telangana\'s interior areas
2 years, 1 month ago

Delivery is still a ‘life-and-death\' question for women of Telangana\'s interior areas

Deccan Chronicle  

ADILABAD: Despite the technological advancements in the medical world, giving birth to an offspring is still considered a life-and-death question for women in interior areas of erstwhile Adilabad district in Telangana. Many pregnant women living in interior areas that fall in the ‘Tiger Corridor’ are facing difficulties in getting regular medical check-ups and scanning due to the lack of proper …

Why India’s landmark abortion ruling could echo around the world
2 years, 2 months ago

Why India’s landmark abortion ruling could echo around the world

Al Jazeera  

On September 29, the Indian Supreme Court delivered a crucial decision which holds the promise of actually leading to the reproductive autonomy of Indian women, in particular through access to abortion. While the core issue before the court was whether unmarried women could seek an abortion under the law – the judges confirmed that they can – the decision also …

Equality and individual autonomy in reproductive rights: India shows the way
2 years, 3 months ago

Equality and individual autonomy in reproductive rights: India shows the way

Hindustan Times  

Women’s consent matters – that’s the top takeaway from the Indian Supreme Court ’s judgment on abortion for all women on International Safe Abortion Day. In a bold and landmark judgement on September 29, India’s top court interpreted the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act and Rules to reassert the reproductive rights for women and individuals with diverse gender identities who …

Supreme Court says all women are entitled to safe abortions even as unsafe terminations prevail
2 years, 3 months ago

Supreme Court says all women are entitled to safe abortions even as unsafe terminations prevail

India Today  

In June 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 50-year-old Roe v Wade judgment, making abortion a federal issue, and leading to widespread abortion curbs all over the country. As per the National Family Health Survey-5, released earlier this year, nearly three per cent of all pregnancies in the country resulted in abortion. Safety — or the lack thereof According …

Every pregnant woman deserves dignity, says Delhi High Court
2 years, 4 months ago

Every pregnant woman deserves dignity, says Delhi High Court

Firstpost  

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court granted a pregnant woman accused of kidnapping and attempted murder a three-month interim bail, stating that every pregnant woman deserves the dignity provided by the Constitution throughout pregnancy. Every pregnant female deserves the dignity enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution of India during motherhood,” the court said in its order dated 18 August. …

Saving mothers: The Hindu Editorial on the importance of maternal health
2 years, 5 months ago

Saving mothers: The Hindu Editorial on the importance of maternal health

The Hindu  

Few things in science or social science are as incontestable as the importance of maternal health to human development. Maternal mortality indicates a woman’s ability to access health care, contraceptive devices, nutrition, and, in a sense, is a mark of the efficiency of a health-care system in responding to demands made of it. A recent study published in the peer-reviewed …

Explained | What do Indian laws say about Abortion?
2 years, 6 months ago

Explained | What do Indian laws say about Abortion?

The Hindu  

The story so far: In a significant step backwards for women’s rights in the U.S., the Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade judgement of 1973, which gave women in America the right to have an abortion before the foetus is viable outside the womb or before the 24-28 week mark. The 2021 Act increased the upper limit of …

India must shift the discourse on abortion rights
2 years, 7 months ago

India must shift the discourse on abortion rights

The Hindu  

As two women public health practitioners who have studied and worked in India and the United States, we voice our solidarity with women in both countries at this precarious moment for abortion rights. Yet, despite this bleak reality, netizens on social media in India claim that the country is more progressive than the U.S. on abortion rights because we have …

Why abortion should be a part of Universal Health Coverage
2 years, 7 months ago

Why abortion should be a part of Universal Health Coverage

Hindustan Times  

Access to abortion is an unconditional human right and should be entitled as a basic health care service delivered as a part of Universal Health Coverage. These various components of disparities have led to the gross neglect of women’s health, and the most overlooked is the Sexual and Reproductive Health Right, which is essential to the fulfillment of universal health …

International Day of the Midwife: The Missing Piece in India’s Maternal Health
2 years, 8 months ago

International Day of the Midwife: The Missing Piece in India’s Maternal Health

The Quint  

India has never been closer to realising the Sustainable Development Goal of 70 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030. Positive strides in maternal health that have saved the lives of millions of girls, children and women are reflected in a progressively declining Maternal Mortality Ratio from 130 to 103 per 100,000 – a notable 21% reduction. Against one …

Institutional Interventions & Safe Motherhood in Odisha: Evidence from NFHS-5
2 years, 9 months ago

Institutional Interventions & Safe Motherhood in Odisha: Evidence from NFHS-5

The Quint  

Many initiatives have been initiated to achieve safe motherhood goal in Odisha. Such interventions include introduction of exclusive policy on girls and women in 2014, establishment of District Child Protection Units in all districts, conduct of workshops and training programmes that focus on gender sensitisation, creation of awareness through leaflets in Odia language on Prohibition of Child Marriage Act and …

Explained | What are the major causes of maternal mortality?
2 years, 9 months ago

Explained | What are the major causes of maternal mortality?

The Hindu  

The story so far: According to the latest report of the Registrar General of India, the Maternal Mortality Ratio in the country has reduced by 10 points – from 113 in 2016-18 to 103 in 2017-19. With this steady decline, India is on track to achieve the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal target to reduce the maternal mortality ratio to …

‘I Paid The Price With My Womb’: Tales Of Unsafe Abortions in India
2 years, 9 months ago

‘I Paid The Price With My Womb’: Tales Of Unsafe Abortions in India

The Quint  

"Aisi batte bado ke samne bhi nhi kar sakte,” she added that she was afraid of being reprimanded by her relatives so she stayed mum. However, according a 2018 report on Sexual Health and reporductive Health rights in India conducted by PLD and SAMA for NHRC, ‘Vulnerable women from marginalised groups and from geographically remote areas continue to be excluded …

Indian women want to stay single, unwilling to give birth after marriage: Karnataka minister
3 years, 3 months ago

Indian women want to stay single, unwilling to give birth after marriage: Karnataka minister

India Today  

Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Sunday claimed that modern Indian women want to stay single, unwilling to give birth even after marriage and desire children by surrogacy. Speaking about mental health in India, Sudhakar said every seventh Indian has some kind of mental issue, which could be mild, moderate and severe. Sudhakar also expressed his gratitude to Union …

A woman’s body is not her own in much of today’s world
3 years, 3 months ago

A woman’s body is not her own in much of today’s world

Live Mint  

The United Nations Population Fund’s State of World Population report, 2021, for the first time, focused on the issue of women’s bodily autonomy. At this juncture, many pro-choice activists are apprehensive about the possibility of the SC’s present conservative majority endorsing the legality of the Mississippi law, or perhaps even going further by overturning its 1973 landmark ruling in the …

Madhya Pradesh's maternal mortality rate higher than rest of India: Amendment of laws needed to give women access to safe abortion
5 years, 7 months ago

Madhya Pradesh's maternal mortality rate higher than rest of India: Amendment of laws needed to give women access to safe abortion

Firstpost  

Even though abortion is legal in India since 1971, ten women in the country die every day due to unsafe abortions performed by quacks and untrained ‘doctors’. “My husband didn’t want a baby either, but we thought abortion was illegal.” It is misconceptions like these that are being addressed in small gatherings held across rural Madhya Pradesh. Even though abortion …

Woman in India dies trying to deliver baby herself after watching YouTube videos
5 years, 9 months ago

Woman in India dies trying to deliver baby herself after watching YouTube videos

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A woman and her baby …

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