Branches
Maternal and Child Health
Also Known As Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health · MNCAH
Population Health Field
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The branch of public health devoted to the wellbeing of women through pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period, and of children from birth through early life. The World Health Organization treats the two as one continuum of care, organizing its work around the life course so that every pregnant woman, mother, newborn, child and adolescent can survive and thrive. The field's starkest fact is preventability: about 287,000 women died during and following pregnancy and childbirth in 2020, most from causes manageable with timely care from a skilled health professional, and more than half of maternal deaths occur in fragile and humanitarian settings. Child deaths show the same pattern, with many preventable through vaccination, adequate home care, breastfeeding, better nutrition and access to health services.
Facts
Central QuestionWhat conditions, care and services allow every woman and every child not only to survive pregnancy, childbirth and early life but to thrive through them? 1 Key DebateWhether scarce resources should concentrate on preventing the deaths that skilled care can already avert, or widen to the field's newer ambition that every pregnancy and birth be a positive experience of wellbeing, is a live tension, sharpest in the fragile and humanitarian settings where more than half of maternal deaths occur. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Sources
1. World Health Organization Official Site
World Health OrganizationHealth topic: Maternal health, OverviewQuote, Health topic: Maternal health, Overview
About 287 000 women died during and following pregnancy and childbirth in 2020. Most maternal deaths are preventable with timely management by a skilled health professional working in a supportive environment.
1. World Health Organization Official Site
World Health OrganizationHealth topic: Child health, OverviewQuote, Health topic: Child health, Overview
Many child deaths are preventable through vaccination, adequate home care, access to health care services, improved rates of breastfeeding and better nutrition.
1. World Health Organization Official Site
World Health OrganizationMaternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing Department page, missionQuote, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing Department page, mission
We lead WHO's work on the life course so that every pregnant woman, mother, newborn, child, adolescent, and older person will survive, thrive and enjoy health and well-being.
1. World Health Organization Official Site
World Health OrganizationHealth topic: Maternal health, Overview, positive experience lineQuote, Health topic: Maternal health, Overview, positive experience line
Each stage should be a positive experience, ensuring women and their babies reach their full potential for health and well-being.
1. World Health Organization Official Site
World Health OrganizationIn Branch: Public Health, Health topic: Child health, Overview, openingQuote, In Branch: Public Health, Health topic: Child health, Overview, opening
Protecting and improving the health of children is of fundamental importance.
1. World Health Organization Official Site
World Health OrganizationIncludes: Breastfeeding Promotion, Ten Steps page, maternity services framingView the Source GiveWell Report on Vitamin A Supplementation
GiveWell, 2017Includes: Vitamin A Supplementation, Program delivery sectionQuote, Includes: Vitamin A Supplementation, Program delivery section
Since its initial linkage with immunization in the 1990s, supplementation has almost always been delivered in combination with other health services.
UNICEF Website
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