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Background: From conception to 6 months of age, an infant is entirely dependent for its nutrition on the mother: via the placenta and then ideally via exclusive breastfeeding. This period of 15 months - about 500 days - is the most important and vulnerable in a child's life: it must be protected through policies supporting maternal nutrition and health. Those addressing nutritional status are discussed here. Objective and design: This paper aims to summarize research on policies and programs to protect women's nutrition in order to improve birth outcomes in low- and middle-income countries, based on studies of efficacy from the literature, and on effectiveness, globally and in selected countries involving in-depth data collection in communities in Ethiopia, India and Northern Nigeria. Results of this research have been published in the academic literature (more than 30 papers). The conclusions now need to be advocated to policy-makers. Results: The priority problems addressed are: intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), women's anemia, thinness, and stunting. The priority interventions that need to be widely expanded for women before and during pregnancy, are: supplementation with iron-folic acid or multiple micronutrients; expanding coverage of iodine fortification of salt particularly to remote areas and the poorest populations; targeted provision of balanced protein energy supplements when significant resources are available; reducing teenage pregnancies; increasing interpregnancy intervals through family planning programs; and building on conditional cash transfer programs, both to provide resources and as a platform for public education. All these have known efficacy but are of inadequate coverage and resourcing. The next steps are to overcome barriers to wide implementation, without which targets for maternal and child health and nutrition (e.g. by WHO) are unlikely to be met, especially in the poorest countries. Conclusions: This agenda requires policy decisions both at Ministry and donor levels, and throughout the administrative system. Evidence-based interventions are established as a basis for these decisions, there are clear advocacy messages, and there are no scientific reasons for delay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This paper explores the heterogeneities in antenatal care (ANC) utilization in India's most populated state, Uttar Pradesh. Taking an intersectionality lens, multiple individual- and district-level factors are used to identify segments of any antenatal care usage in Uttar Pradesh Objective: This paper seeks to understand the multilevel contexts of ANC utilization. The planning and programming challenge is that such knowledge of contextual specificity is rarely known upfront at the initial stages of planning or implementing an intervention. Exploratory data analysis might be needed to identify such contextual specificity. Methods: Tree-structured regression methods are used to identify segments and interactions between factors. The results from the tree-structured regression were complemented with multilevel models that controlled for the clustering of individuals within districts. Results: Heterogeneities in utilization of any ANC were observed. The multiple segments of ANC utilization that were developed went from a low utilization of 23.7% for respondents who were not literate and did not have home ownership to a high of 82.4% for respondents who were literate and at the highest level of wealth. Key variables that helped define the segments of ANC utilization include: woman's literacy, ownership of home, wealth index, and district-level sex ratio. Based on the multilevel model of any ANC utilization, cross-level interactions also were obtained between sex ratio and ownership of home as well as between sex ratio and literacy. Increases in sex ratio increased the influence of ownership of home on any ANC, while increases in sex ratio reduced the impact of woman's literacy on receiving any ANC. Conclusion: We argue that a focus on heterogeneous segments of utilization can help build knowledge of the mechanisms that underlie inequities in maternal health utilization. Such knowledge of heterogeneity needs to be incorporated in contextualizing interventions to meet a variety of recipients' needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5 is focused on reducing maternal mortality and achieving universal access to reproductive health care. India has made extensive efforts to achieve MDG 5 and in some regions much progress has been achieved. Progress has been uneven and inequitable however, and many women still lack access to maternal and reproductive health care. Objective: In this review, a framework developed by the Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH) is used to categorize and explain determinants of inequity in maternal and reproductive health in India. Design: A review of peer-reviewed, published literature was conducted using the electronic databases PubMed and Popline. The search was performed using a carefully developed list of search terms designed to capture published papers from India on: 1) maternal and reproductive health, and 2) equity, including disadvantaged populations. A matrix was developed to sort the relevant information, which was extracted and categorized based on the CSDH framework. In this way, the main sources of inequity in maternal and reproductive health in India and their inter-relationships were determined. Results: Five main structural determinants emerged from the analysis as important in understanding equity in India: economic status, gender, education, social status (registered caste or tribe), and age (adolescents). These five determinants were found to be closely interrelated, a feature which was reflected in the literature. Conclusion: In India, economic status, gender, and social status are all closely interrelated when influencing use of and access to maternal and reproductive health care. Appropriate attention should be given to how these social determinants interplay in generating and sustaining inequity when designing policies and programs to reach equitable progress toward improved maternal and reproductive health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The struggle for reproductive self-determination has specific significance for women and girls in India, where a maternal death occurs every five minutes. This paper analyses the role litigation played in seeking redress for violations of the reproductive rights of Shanti Devi, who died in childbirth in 2010 in Haryana state, and some of the socio-economic, cultural, political and legal factors involved. It provides a brief overview of India's national and international obligations with regard to maternal health, and through the lens of the litigation in Shanti Devi's case, it examines how the government failed to protect, respect and fulfill her right to life and health. Litigation can be used to ensure accountability in further cases by building on case law, informing communities about these decisions and their rights, and holding government accountable at local, state and central level. Litigation also has limits, most importantly due to people's lack of awareness of their rights and entitlements, the lack of government outreach programmes informing them of these, and the lack of accountability mechanisms within health programmes when they are not transparent or functioning effectively. Thus, although constitutional justice is an important tool for democratic progress and social change, social justice will only be achieved through broader social struggle. La lutte pour l'autodétermination génésique revêt une importance particulière pour les femmes et les filles en Inde, où un décès maternel se produit toutes les cinq minutes. Cet article analyse le rôle joué par le procès intenté pour demander réparation des violations des droits génésiques de Shanti Devi, morte en couches en 2010 dans l'État d'Haryana, et certains facteurs socio-économiques, culturels, politiques et juridiques en jeu. Il décrit brièvement les obligations nationales et internationales de l'Inde dans le domaine de la santé maternelle, et s'agissant de l'affaire Shanti Devi, il examine comment les autorités ont été incapables de protéger, de respecter et de réaliser le droit à la vie et à la santé de cette femme. Les poursuites peuvent permettre de garantir la responsabilisation dans de nouveaux cas en se fondant sur la jurisprudence, d'informer les communautés de ces décisions et de leurs droits, et de demander des comptes aux autorités locales, étatiques et centrales. L'action en justice a aussi ses limites, en particulier du fait de la méconnaissance de ses droits par la population, de l'absence de programmes officiels de vulgarisation qui informent la population de ces droits et du manque de mécanismes de responsabilisation dans les programmes de santé, quand ils ne sont pas transparents ou ne fonctionnent pas efficacement. Par conséquent, si la justice constitutionnelle est un outil important pour le progrès démocratique et le changement social, seule une lutte sociale élargie apportera la justice sociale. La lucha por la autodeterminación reproductiva tiene un significado específico para las mujeres y niñas en India, donde ocurre una muerte materna cada cinco minutos. En este artículo se analiza el rol que desempeñó el litigio para buscar reparo por violaciones de los derechos reproductivos de Shanti Devi, quien falleció en el parto, en el 2010, en el estado de Haryana, así como algunos de los factores socioeconómicos, culturales, políticos y jurídicos implicados. Se expone un resumen conciso de las obligaciones nacionales e internacionales de la India con respecto a la salud materna, y a través de la lente del litigio en el caso de Shanti Devi, se examina el incumplimiento del gobierno en proteger, respetar y realizar su derecho a la vida y la salud. El litigio se puede utilizar para garantizar responsabilidad en otros casos basándose en jurisprudencia, para informar a las comunidades sobre estas decisiones y sus derechos, y para hacer al gobierno responsable a nivel local, estatal y central. Pero el litigio tiene límites, principalmente debido a que las personas no son conscientes de sus derechos, a la falta de programas gubernamentales de extensión a las comunidades para informarlas de estos derechos, y a la falta de mecanismos de responsabilidad en los programas de salud, cuando no son transparentes o no funcionan eficazmente. Por lo tanto, aunque la justicia constitucional es una herramienta importante para los avances democráticos y el cambio social, la justicia social se alcanzará solo por medio de la lucha social. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We measured levels of women's health knowledge and their association with the reporting of maternal health complications and related health care use. We found that women with higher levels of health knowledge reported more pregnancy and postnatal complications, and used more maternal health care services. Education has a positive impact on health, but education alone is not enough to ensure recognizing and reporting of health complications and increasing the demand for maternal health care services. We conclude that the provision of health education for women will help them to identify maternal health complications and improve their reporting and related health care use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the avoidable nature of maternal mortality, unacceptably high numbers of maternal deaths occur in developing countries. Considering its preventability, maternal mortality is being increasingly recognised as a human rights issue. Integration of a human rights perspective in maternal health programmes could contribute positively in eliminating avertable maternal deaths. This study was conducted to explore socio-cultural and service delivery–related dimensions of maternal deaths in rural central India using a human rights lens. Social autopsies were conducted for 22 maternal deaths during 2011 in Khargone district in central India. The data were analysed using thematic analysis. The factors associated with maternal deaths were classified by using the 'three delays' framework and were examined by using a human rights lens. All 22 women tried to access medical assistance, but various factors delayed their access to appropriate care. The underestimation of the severity of complications by family members, gender inequity, and perceptions of low-quality delivery services delayed decisions to seek care. Transportation problems and care seeking at multiple facilities delayed reaching appropriate health facilities. Negligence by health staff and unavailability of blood and emergency obstetric care services delayed receiving adequate care after reaching a health facility. The study highlighted various socio-cultural and service delivery–related factors which are violating women's human rights and resulting in maternal deaths in rural central India. This study highlights that, despite the health system's conscious effort to improve maternal health, normative elements of a human rights approach to maternal health (i.e. availability, accessibility, acceptability, and quality of maternal health services) were not upheld. The data and analysis suggest that the deceased women and their relatives were unable to claim their entitlements and that the duty bearers were not successful in meeting their obligations. Based on the findings of our study, we conclude that to prevent maternal deaths, further concentrated efforts are required for better community education, women's empowerment, and health systems strengthening to provide appropriate and timely services, including emergency obstetric care, with good quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]