Most parts of world saw maternal mortality rates spike in 2020
Reuters Maternal mortality rates climbed or stagnated in nearly all regions across the world in 2020, according to a report released by UN agencies on Wednesday, marking a major setback in global efforts to combat complications during childbirth or pregnancy. The report, which tracks maternal mortality nationally, regionally and globally from 2000 to 2020, showed […]
Women stranded in Pakistan floods take risky trips to give birth
Sehwan, Pakistan Reuters Rubina Mallah took a perilous, three-hour boat journey across flood waters to get to the nearest hospital in time to give birth to her baby son, as the roads leading to the clinic in the southern Pakistani city of Sehwan were submerged. The 27-year-old is one of tens of thousands of pregnant […]
The Long Read: Gender gap emerges in Africa’s vaccines
KRISTA LARSON and MARIA CHENG, of Associated Press, report on how vaccine hesitancy, including among women of childbearing age, is leading to a stark gender disparity resulting in African women being the least vaccinated population in the world…
Zimbabwe makes it illegal for schools to expel pregnant girls
Mutare, ZimbabweThomson Reuters Foundation Zimbabwe has made it illegal for schools to expel pupils who get pregnant, a measure women’s rights campaigners said would help tackle gender inequality in the classroom and stop many girls from dropping out of school. A legal amendment announced last week seeks to reinforce a 1999 guideline that was patchily […]
Probe demanded after 57 girls catch coronavirus in Indian shelter
Lucknow, IndiaThomson Reuters Foundation Dozens of girls at an Indian care home for runaways and sexual abuse victims have tested positive for coronavirus, raising renewed scrutiny over the management of state-run shelters as the country faces a surge of new infections. The shelter in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has since been sealed, […]
As Venezuela’s healthcare collapses, pregnant women, girls bear brunt of crisis
Bogota, ColombiaThomson Reuters Foundation In Caracas’s main maternity hospital the blood banks and medicine cabinets are empty, the power and water regularly cut out – and women and girls are dying needlessly, according to one of the few remaining doctors, Luisangela Correa. The surgeon is one of only three left at the Concepcion Palacios hospital […]
Sierra Leone wants more girls in school – but not if pregnant
Thomson Reuters Foundation Pregnant schoolgirls in Sierra Leone will be banned from classes and exams despite sweeping new government measures to improve access to education for all, a state spokesman said on Thursday. The West African country introduced the ban on pregnant girls in 2015 after a rise in rape, abuse and poverty during the […]
Hundreds of pregnant women risk death in Yemen, says UN
Thomson Reuters Foundation Hundreds of pregnant women in the Yemeni city of Hodeidah risk dying as the escalating conflict puts medical care out of reach in a country with one of the world’s highest maternal mortality rates, the United Nations said. The UN Population Fund said pregnant women were at “extreme risk” as it became […]