WASHINGTON (July 10, 2017) – A delegation of policymakers and leaders from the public and private sectors traveled to Jordan with the global poverty-fighting...
Maternal Health
Safeguarding Health for Mothers and Families
A family cannot be economically healthy if it is not physically healthy.
CARE for Moms
Learn how CARE is giving mothers the interventions they need to get an education, raise healthier and better-educated children, develop their own sources of income and become leaders in their communities.
Our Technical Expertise
See the tools, approaches, research, and projects on Sexual, Reproductive, and Maternal Health that CARE uses in more than 40 countries around the world
Share Your Voice
CARE works around the world to influence policies to ensure that safe pregnancy and birth are A BASIC HUMAN RIGHT.
The Right to Health
Maternal mortality is nothing short of an epidemic
Worldwide, hundreds of thousands of women die from complications during pregnancy or childbirth each year – that's one woman dying every 90 seconds – and millions more are left with life-altering disabilities. In some countries, one in seven women dies in pregnancy or childbirth.
These women aren't dying because the health community doesn't know how to prevent their deaths; they are dying because the world is failing to help.
Women have the right to health
CARE believes that access to quality sexual, reproductive and maternal health is both a fundamental human right and a critical development issue. Improving sexual, reproductive and maternal health is therefore central to our commitment to gender equality and to reducing global poverty.
The realization of the “right to health” cannot be achieved through direct services alone; large‐scale and sustainable change requires that we address underlying and systemic factors, including gender inequality, policy barriers and power imbalances that have an impact on health.
We work in countries with some of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world
For more than 50 years, we have worked in countries with some of the highest maternal mortality rates and some of the highest unmet needs for family planning services to improve health and reduce maternal and newborn mortality by improving the coverage, quality and equity of health services available to women, children and families, and affecting policies to ensure safe pregnancy and birth are a basic human right.
STEAL THESE STATS
Share the facts about maternal health.
Steal These Stats99% of all maternal deaths occur in developing countries.
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Steal These StatsEvery year, 2 million deaths among mothers and newborns occur at the time of birth.
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Steal These StatsSkilled health workers lead to a 54% reduction in mortality at birth.
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Steal These StatsAbout 16 million girls aged between 15 and 19 give birth each year, accounting for more than 10% of all births.
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Steal These StatsIn poor countries, complications from pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death among girls 15-19.
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Steal These StatsThere is good news. Between 1990 and 2010, women dying during pregnancy and childbirth dropped 47%.
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Steal These StatsAn estimated 287,000 women died during pregnancy and childbirth in 2010.
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Steal These StatsEvery day, approximately 800 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth.
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LS: Maternal Health Box 1 New
Read This!
This Supermodel Says, "Let's Save Lives Together"
LS: Maternal Health Box 2 New
MAKE THE CONNECTION!
Child marriage endangers girls and places them at risk of dying in pregnancy and delivery.
LS: Maternal Health Box 3 New
We Measure
Learn about our new tool to measure women’s empowerment in our health work.
LS: Maternal Health Box 4 New
Did You Know?
CARE pays special attention to new and expectant moms during times of crisis.
LS: Maternal Health Box 5 New
Did You Know?
CARE helps deliver culturally-appropriate care around the globe.
LS: Maternal Health Box 6 New
Read This!
I Am NOT Going to Die!
LS: Maternal Health Box 7 New
Read This!
The Princess of Safe Motherhood
Watch This!
Check out a few of our videos to see how CARE is keeping moms and babies healthy.
Newsroom
ATLANTA (July 7, 2017) — In advance of next week’s 2017 Family Planning Summit in London, the poverty-fighting organization CARE has released a new report, The Path to...
WASHINGTON (May 10, 2017) — The global poverty-fighting organization CARE welcomes the announcement today of Ambassador Mark Green as the new Administrator of the United...
RESOURCES
Issue Brief 2015
This 2 page brief shows highlights from CARE's Integrated Family Health Initiative (IFHI) in Bihar, India.
This 2 page brief highlights learning and results from the Malawi Health Alliance Project.
This two page brief highlights impacts and learning from CARE's SAFPAC project.
The Kuraneza project was a four-year child survival project implemented in four sectors (Kayenzi, Karama, Musambira and Nyarubaka) of...
Global Investments to End Maternal and Child Mortality in Guatemala
This 16 page evaluation showcases the final results of the groundbreaking program designed and implemented by CARE Ethiopia and...
Findings from the CARE Learning Tour to Cambodia
TESFA is a 3 year project funded by the Nike Foundation that works to improve economic, and sexual and reproductive health outcomes for...
Access to education about contraceptive methods and tools empowers women and men to plan their families, educate their children, and...
Sexual and reproductive health is a significant public health need in all communities, including those facing emergencies.
Tools for learning and action on gender and sexuality
CARE is a signatory to Girl Declaration and helped with its development.
CARE has been working on sexual, reproductive and maternal health programming for 50 years.
Goretti wanted a better life for her and her six children and convinced her husband to allow her to participate in a local women’s...
Addressing the Social Factors That Influence Sexual and Reproductive Health
Addressing the Social Factors that Influence Family Planning
Advocating for Improved Maternal, Sexual and Reproductive Health Policy & Practice for Adolescent Girls and Young Mothers: Pakistan...
Sexual, reproductive and maternal healthcare is both a fundamental human right and a critical development issue.
Projet l’Espoir pour la Santé des Mères et Nouveaux Nés is a collaborative effort between CARE International and CARE Mali.
Overview of CARE’s Intervention & Evaluation Plan
A look at CARE interventions in Bihar, India where poor nutrition and health lead to early death and lost potential.
Use of mobile phone applications to promote access to obstetric and neonatal emergency care.
The Supporting Access to Family Planning and Post-Abortion Care in Emergencies initiative aims to reduce unintended pregnancies and...
Complications during pregnancy and childbirth are a leading cause of death among women in developing countries.
It is important to understand the challenging situation facing Nepal’s nearly 6.6 million women of reproductive age (ages 15–49).
Uzazi Bora: Meeting the Maternal Health Needs of Post-Conflict Kasongo District, DRC
Integrating Gender and Sexuality into Maternal and Newborn Health Programming through the Inner Spaces, Outer Faces Initiative.
CARE works with communities to improve the quality and accessibility of local health services for women and newborns.
Tools for learning and action on gender and sexuality.
The FEMME Project in Peru: Partnerships for Improved Health
In January 2012, a high-level delegation, including U.S.
HOGASA has contributed to significant decreases in maternal and infant death and improved management of healthcare resources in Honduras...
As part of the LIFT-UP Initiative, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, CARE Ecuador conducted a study on Youth Space
Our plan is called PATHWAY TO EMPOWERMENT because it’s a journey forward, together.
Lack of nutritious food is a barrier to health and wellbeing for the most vulnerable, poor and marginalized people in the world.
Meeting Needs for Reproductive Health Services in Post-Conflict Environments: CARE’s Family Planning Project in the DRC.
With more than 3,000 years of history, Ethiopia is uniquely situated at the crossroads between the Middle East and Africa.
Supporting Access to Family Planning and Post-Abortion Care in Emergencies (SAFPAC)
Since MDGs were agreed to in 2000, there are new challenges to ending poverty and developing in an equitable and sustainable way.
In order to strengthen and standardize our measurement of women’s empowerment in our programs, CARE has developed a new survey tool....
CARE's Life Saving Interventions for Women and Girls in Haiti project has worked to protect earthquake-affected women and girls.
Three years after the worst earthquake in Haiti’s history, the massive task of recovery and reconstruction continues.
Undernourished pregnant women have higher reproductive risks, including death during or following childbirth.
Empowering women to ensure family planning coverage, quality and equity
Maternal health investments are delivering real results.
The empowerment of women is at the heart of CARE’s strategy to reduce global poverty and nurture the growth of healthy societies.
As the global community narrows in on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), there is a renewed dedication to improving the health of...
CARE’s Approach to Sexual, Reproductive, and Maternal Health
Going the Extra Mile to Provide and Sustain Family Planning Services in Remote Madagascar