There is nothing more natural than childbirth. The desire to procreate and securely raise children is built into our DNA, and yet throughout the world, it is one of the most dangerous things a woman can do. Women and children rarely make it into the headlines, yet they are often the planet’s most vulnerable. Targeted by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), significant progress has been made in ensuring the health of mothers and children, but much remains to be done .

For a deeper look into how far we’ve come with the Millenium Development Goals and how far we have to go, check out our piece, Grading the MDGs .

Protecting the progress achieved, and broadening and strengthening investments in Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health (MNCH), is key to seeing communities and nations move from poverty to prosperity. When mothers are healthy and educated, they’re more likely to have healthy babies. Healthy babies are more likely to grow into healthy children, who are more likely to stay in school and become productive, fulfilled members of society.

What’s Happening Right Now

MNCH could be on the G7 Agenda. On Monday, February 9, Prime Minister Harper of Canada and Chancellor Merkel of Germany will be meeting to discuss the upcoming G7 agenda. Canada has been a leader on improving global maternal and child health, as I’m sure you all know because you’ve been paying very close attention to the MNCH actions that came from the 2010 Muskoka Initiative, RIGHT!? Ok, if not, then trust me, Canada has been a key leader in this area.

And now the world needs Canada’s Prime Minister to step up again and remind Chancellor Merkel of the importance of this issue and make it a  priority on the upcoming G7 meeting hosted by Germany. If we are to end maternal, newborn and child deaths by 2030, delivering strong financial and political support through platforms such as the G7 are crucial.

The Problem Today

By continuing to make sure that caregivers are well-supplied and well-trained, we can make childbirth much safer for women around the world. Today, more and more mothers are giving birth in health care facilities instead of at home. Since 2005, the proportion of mothers delivering at facilities in Rwanda has gone from 31% to 72%. In Cambodia, it has shot up from 20% to 57%. This is huge!

But the road to victory is steep and sometimes unforgiving. Every year nearly 300,000 mothers die from complications during childbirth, while 2.9 million newborns die within the first 28 days of their lives. The dramatic improvements in mortality rates of children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years has not been matched by the newborn category. 40% of deaths under 5 are now in newborns.

How to Save Lives

There are many simple initiatives that can be implemented to avoid these preventable deaths.

Immediate and exclusive breastfeeding during this time period gives newborns a 14-times greater chance of survival than children who are not breastfed, as it provides necessary nutrition and immune protection.

Particularly in premature births, promoting “thermal care” through skin-skin contact can prevent 20% of newborn deaths and is as easy as immediately drying and warming the newborn after delivery. It’s shocking to think that something as essential as skin-skin contact could be a missing link to infant survival.

Lastly: vaccines. If you haven’t noticed us ranting about the importance of vaccines over the last 3 YEARS then you haven’t been paying attention at all and I must kindly ask you to take a moment to think about why you are not reading this excellent site every minute of every day…..ok thought about it? Made a personal pledge to rectify that? Great. And now that I have your attention back I will once again reiterate that vaccines and the proper administration of life-saving medications will continue to play a powerful role in the reduction of maternal and newborn deaths and thus ending extreme poverty.

The G7 Has Helped Before and it Can Help Now

The campaign to end Polio is a direct result of the 2010 G7 meeting and is one of the biggest success stories. After re-upping the momentum on this global eradication movement, Polio cases have decreased by 99% since 1988 and saved 10 million people from paralysis. The clincher: it only costs 60 cents to protect a child for life.

In part because of the G7 attention, we are so close to completely eradicating polio, something we have only accomplished one other disease, smallpox. If we’re serious about making a commitment to universal healthcare, let’s finish the work that was started and provide every last child with a vaccine that costs so little.

The upcoming G7 meetings in June are an opportunity to see increased momentum, as well as funding, toward efforts to improve MNCH. Global citizens have a critical window of opportunity left to shape the agenda of the 2015 G7 Summit and to leverage greater commitments for the health of the world’s most vulnerable women and children. The meeting between Canadian and German leadership on Monday is an important opportunity to continue this conversation - and for global citizens to be heard.

Help support this initiative by signing the petition on the side of this piece that calls for World Leaders to make strong monetary commitments at the G7 and to adopt strong targets for the Post-2015 Development Agenda around Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health and other systemic issues that contribute to leading causes of death such as sanitation, reproductive health, nutrition, and education.

Editorial

Defeat Poverty

Tell the G7 the Health of Mothers and Kids Should be a Priority

By Alison Shea