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UK's Sarah Brown Discusses Safe Motherhood in India   
February 12, 2008—When the United Kingdom’s Sarah Brown visited New Delhi in late January, she met with CEDPA/India staff and the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood to discuss strategies to make motherhood safer in India. Despite progress in many areas, India has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. One woman dies every seven minutes in the country due to pregnancy-related complications. The present Maternal Mortality Rate in India is 301 per 100,000 live births—almost 30 times higher than the rate in the United States. Sarah Brown has been a champion of safe motherhood for many years. In addition to being an advisory board member to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in Britain and Patron of the College's official charity, Wellbeing of Women, she is president of the British children's charity PiggyBankKids, which has established the Jennifer Brown Research Laboratory in Edinburgh to investigate causes of pregnancy problems and premature birth. Mrs. Brown has dedicated herself to furthering Britain’s commitments to advancing infant and maternal health since her husband Gordon Brown became Prime Minister in 2007. The Jan. 21 meeting in New Delhi brought Mrs. Brown together with CEDPA’s Dr. Aparajita Gogoi and a delegation from the White Ribbon Alliance in India. CEDPA has been the convener of the Alliance since it was launched in 1999. The delegation updated Mrs. Brown on the current maternal health scenario in India. They highlighted that India has good national policies to combat high maternal death, but that women are still dying in huge numbers because these policies have not been implemented at the community level. For example, less than half of all births in India are conducted by a skilled birth attendant. The discussion “highlighted the fact that high-level advocacy is required for stopping maternal and new born deaths,” said Dr. Gogoi. Dr. Gogoi noted that it is particularly important to mobilize political will to highlight these maternal and new born deaths. In addition, more men need to become partners in addressing reproductive and maternal health issues, and girls’ education should empower them to make decisions about their health, she said. Learn more about CEDPA’s work on safe motherhood and in India. |
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