If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
Improving Maternal Health Care, One Text At A Time
Vice President, Corporate Citizenship at Johnson & Johnson
During her pregnancy, every expectant mother has bright hopes for the new life she carries. She may have concerns about her ability to care for a newborn. But depending on where she in the world she lives, her fear may be much deeper and more fundamental: "Will my baby survive childbirth?" Or, "Will I?"
Yes, governments must step up. But so should we all. Why shouldn't rape be dinner table conversation? We talk about war, we talk about death, we discuss values with our children. But on the subject of sexual assault, we remain silent and squeamish.
Part of the problem in the US is that we simply don't know exactly why women are dying, or even how many are. It is hard to be aware when we don't have a system that tracks these deaths and near-misses in a uniform fashion in all 50 states. Let me state that plainly - many states do not even have "pregnancy-related" on the death certificate. If we don't ask the question, how will we ever know the answer?
Next week, women and policymakers from around the world will gather in Malaysia to foment a revolution. Their call? Investment of a different kind, investment in girls and women for the sake not only of people, but also for the planet.
The number 13 has long been linked to a belief of bad luck and misfortune. Well, today that superstition has changed. More importantly, if we do right by the number 13, we have the potential to save six million women and children over the next five years. How is that possible?
"Yeah, but he was shot in the back of the head in a playground in Brooklyn back in 2011. You didn't know?" That was how my involvement with the 2013 Envision Film program began this past April.
In the information age, there are no innocent bystanders. We all share in everything that happens. But that means we also have the chance, the ability, and the responsibility, to right what is wrong. We can be defined not just by what we know, but by what we do.
While the time saving benefits of smartphones are often cited, we rarely think about the life saving benefits. But for women in developing nations, access to a smartphone can make the difference between life and death during childbirth.
As a parent myself, living overseas so far away from my family, it has been important to me to find creative ways to maintain this intergenerational tie between my own son and his grandparents.
Differently-abled women are a doubly discriminated category in India: for being women and having a physical or mental impairment.
Maternity care and mental health care are both lacking in our otherwise incredibly developed nation. Combine these two and you have the perfect storm...
Edna Adan Ismail has literally committed everything she has to achieve one purpose: decreasing the newborn and maternal mortality rate in Somaliland and the Horn of Africa.
Mother's Day is a celebration of life and reflects the importance of women to their families, communities and countries. However, worldwide HIV/AIDS robs women and girls of their potential and health.
Since our inception, Mother's Day has been our biggest attention-grabbing, awareness-building opportunity to rally the troops and engage new audiences to join our efforts to make pregnancy and childbirth safe for all moms.
On Mother's Day -- and every day -- I am reminded of how important it is to listen to mothers in the developing world, share their stories and be a partner in their struggle for human rights
Upon seeing Taslima Akhter's devastating photograph, however, I learned more about the people behind that label; that 'someone' who might have spent a passing moment caressing the cloth that caressed my son's back.
Life can be terribly unfair. But there are so many people out there, dozens of whom I heard from today, who are doing something to make the world a better place -- for children, for mothers, and by extension, for all of us.
Sadly, humanity is taking advantage of our planet like an ungrateful teenager. Let's clean up our room and show our Mother Earth some respect.
The Mother's Day celebration takes place in May every year. This special day we reflect and show our gratitude to our mothers by acknowledging their unconditional love, their sacrifices and their contribution to our success.
Making Healthy Pregnancies a Priority in Ghana
Executive Director, Akpafu Traditional Birth Attendants Women’s Association
This month, as many of my colleagues around the world celebrate motherhood, I work towards a future where all the mothers in my community have access to safe and healthy pregnancies -- a future free of the cries that once filled the homes of my neighbors.
