Helping mothers and babies survive childbirth is a personal goal, says Melinda French Gates
Several low cost and low tech interventions would increase the chances of mothers and their babies surviving childbirth, according to a new report released Tuesday by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
NEW YORK — Melinda French Gates says she takes personally the deaths of hundreds of thousands of women and babies during child birth each year and believes more people should get involved in the fight for improving maternal health care.
French Gates, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation co-founder and co-chair told The Associated Press that when her daughter, Jennifer, gave birth to Leila — Jennifer's first child and the Gateses' first grandchild — earlier this year, she couldn't help but think of her own experience giving birth.
“That’s a terrifying day whether you’re in a great hospital in the U.S. in a high-income setting or in a low-income setting. It’s a scary day for moms, right?” French Gates said. “And you want to survive and you want your baby to survive."
Several low cost and low tech interventions would increase those chances of survival, according to a new report released Tuesday by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that tracks progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals set at the United Nations in 2015.
Those include changes to the protocol for treating serious bleeding, known as postpartum hemorrhage, which is the leading cause of maternal death, treating anemia with a fast-working IV drip rather than tablets, and preventing infections with a specific antibiotic.
Dr. Rasa Izadnegahdar, who directs the foundation’s Maternal, Newborn & Child Health Discovery & Tools portfolio, called on the World Health Organization to speed up approval of some of the interventions, which in part are based on
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