Contact

For more information, please contact:

Deborah Armbruster
Project Director, POPPHI
PATH
1800 K St., NW, Suite 800
Washington, DC 20006

Tel: 202.822.0033
Email: darmbruster@path.org

Partners

PATH

PATH is an international, nonprofit organization that creates sustainable, culturally relevant solutions, enabling communities worldwide to break longstanding cycles of poor health. By collaborating with diverse public- and private-sector partners, PATH helps provide appropriate health technologies and vital strategies that change the way people think and act. PATH’s work improves global health and well-being. For more information, please visit www.path.org.

RTI International

RTI International is an independent, nonprofit corporation that focuses on scientific research and technology development. Through research, development, and technical assistance, RTI focuses on improving maternal and reproductive health. Its experts are assisting developing countries around the world to improve the well-being of women and children.

EngenderHealth

EngenderHealth works to improve women’s health worldwide. Their work in the areas of maternal health, including prenatal care, postpartum care, family planning, postabortion care, and emergency obstetric care, including obstetric fistula treatment and prevention; prevention of HIV in pregnant women and of mother-to-child transmission of HIV; and cervical cancer prevention helps to improve the lives of individuals by making reproductive health services safe, available, and sustainable. EngenderHealth provides technical assistance, training, and information, with a focus on practical solutions that improve services where resources are scarce.

International Confederation of Midwives (ICM)

ICM is a member organization composed of approximately 85 midwifery associations from all over the world. ICM’s mission is “to advance worldwide the aims and aspirations of midwives in the attainment of improved outcomes for women, their newborns and families during the childbearing cycle, using the ICM midwifery philosophy and model of care.” ICM collaborates closely with FIGO to expand the use of AMTSL as evidenced by their joint statement issued in November 2003. ICM is a collaborating partner on the POPPHI project.

International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO)

FIGO is the only worldwide member organization of gynecologists and obstetricians. FIGO has 110 member societies representing all regions of the world. In January 2004, FIGO established a Committee on Safe Motherhood and Newborn Health to carry out related priorities for the period 2003-2006. FIGO is a collaborating partner to the POPPHI project and is promoting the use of AMTSL through its joint statement with the International Confederation of Midwives.

United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

USAID works to improve the health and quality of life of women and children worldwide. Their maternal and child health program site includes information about maternal health programs and relevant publications, including how family planning impacts maternal health.

Collaborators

JHPIEGO

JHPIEGO is an international public health organization that focuses on a variety of areas, with the goal of improving women’s health. JHPIEGO leads the Access to Clinical and Community Maternal, Neonatal and Women’s Health Services (ACCESS) project. ACCESS is one of POPPHI’s implementing partners. Through its activities, ACCESS promotes the use of AMTSL in facilities and in the community by establishing clinical standards and guidelines, strengthening systems for provider skills and supervision, and developing training and information, education, and communication (IEC) materials.

Rational Pharmaceutical Management Plus (RPM Plus)

RPM Plus is a program of Management Sciences for Health (MSH) funded by USAID that provides technical assistance to strengthen drug and health commodity management systems. The program offers technical guidance and assists in strategy development and program implementation both in improving the availability of health commodities—pharmaceuticals, vaccines, supplies, and basic medical equipment—of assured quality for maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS, infectious diseases, and family planning and in promoting the appropriate use of health commodities in the public and private sectors. RPM Plus is an implementing partner to the POPPHI project and is providing expertise on the management of uterotonics.

HealthTech Program at PATH

HealthTech is a program at PATH that is funded by the US Agency for International Development and others. HealthTech develops, adapts, evaluates, and/or facilitates the introduction of affordable and appropriate innovative technology solutions, such as the Uniject™ autodisable injection device. These technologies can significantly contribute to addressing identified impediments to the safe, effective, and more equitable distribution of health care services in low-resource countries.

Other Relevant Organizations

American College of Nurse Midwives (ACNM)

ACNM is a professional organization that sponsors research, accredits nurse-midwifery educational programs, administers continuing education programs, establishes clinical practice standards, and advocates for the profession in U.S. legislatures. Its website includes information about midwifery education; clinical practice statements, position statements, and guidelines issued by ACNM; strategies for policy advocacy; extensive links to other midwifery sites; and a book store that sells a wide array of print materials on midwifery.

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)

ACOG is the leading group of professionals in the United States providing health care for women. It serves as an advocate for women’s health care issues and strives to maintain the highest standards of clinical practice and continuing education for its members.

Family Care International (FCI)

FCI is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving women's sexual and reproductive health and rights in developing countries. It is also the secretariat for the Safe Motherhood Initiative. Its site contains fact sheets on key sexual and reproductive health issues, including maternal mortality, contraception, youth and adolescent health, unsafe abortion, and HIV/AIDS and STIs. FCI’s Saving Women's Lives: Skilled Care Initiative is working with partners to implement a five-year project to reduce pregnancy-related death and disability in developing countries by ensuring that women have access to skilled, qualified care during and after childbirth.

Gynuity Health Projects

Gynuity is a research organization based in New York. Gynuity’s research focuses on reproductive health technologies, medical abortion, and policy work. Gynuity is conducting ongoing research on the use of misoprostol to prevent postpartum hemorrhage.

Midwives Information and Resource Service (MIDIRS)

MIDIRS is an educational charity (not-for-profit organization) whose mission is “To be the central source of information relating to childbirth and to disseminate this information to midwives and others.” MIDIRS helps to support midwives in professional development through publications, workshops, and a range of information services.

Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)

PAHO is a regional office of the World Health Organization, working to improve health and living standards of the countries of the Americas. PAHO works to strengthen the health sector capacity in countries and promotes an integral approach to health problems. It also targets the issue of women's health and works to increase women’s own awareness of their importance as both recipients and providers of health services.

Partnership for Safe Motherhood and Newborn Health

In 1987, a coalition of the world's leaders in maternal and child health—United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank, International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), and the Population Council—joined forces and developed the Safe Motherhood Inter-Agency Group to address the problems of maternal morbidity and mortality. These groups have been joined by the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM), the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO), the Regional Prevention of Maternal Mortality Network (Africa), and the Safe Motherhood Network of Nepal. This site describes the Safe Motherhood Initiative and the projects undertaken by member organizations, lists upcoming events, and posts relevant news articles. It also offers an extensive series of fact sheets on the factors contributing to maternal mortality, data on maternal health indicators, and program recommendations. In 2004, the Inter-Agency Group began transitioning to become the Partnership for Safe Motherhood and Newborn Health.

Population, Health, and Nutrition Information (PHNI) Project

The PHNI Project is a five-year program of the USAID Bureau for Global Health. PHNI provides the Bureau for Global Health and other USAID offices with tools to measure project performance and expertise in key service areas. PHNI also maintains the Data On-Line for Population, Health and Nutrition (DOLPHN) Database, which provides information on demographic, health, and socioeconomic indicators.

PSP-One

Private Sector Partnerships for Better Health

The PSP-One project is USAID's flagship project to increase the private sector's provision of high-quality reproductive health and family planning (RH/FP) and other health products and services in developing countries. USAID looks to PSP-One to provide technical leadership in optimal private sector strategies; to synthesize and disseminate proven strategies, research findings, and tools; and to provide country-level support in development and scale-up of successful private sector approaches. PSP-One works to advance state-of-the-art knowledge and practices in private sector programming. Among PSP-One's activities is the introduction of a professional exchange for midwives in developing countries. The purpose of the exchange is to strengthen midwives' practices, to provide a forum for sharing experiences, and to learn what others are doing that works well. Midwives who are interested in participating in this exchange can visit the web site at http://www.psp-one.com and go to 'Midwives Exchange' to learn more. To request a user name and password for the private space, simply e-mail PSP-One at info@psp-one.com, and they will help get you involved. PSP-One plans to begin holding interactive discussions online and by phone beginning in January 2006.

White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood

The White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood is an international coalition of organizations and individuals formed to promote increased public awareness of the need to make pregnancy and childbirth safe for all women in developing and developed countries. Their website provides an array of valuable resources, including Technical Resource Series readings, fact sheets, FAQs, extensive links, reports on White Ribbon Alliance activities, and a photo library.

World Health Organization (WHO)

WHO is the United Nations specialized agency on health. Safe motherhood was the theme of WHO's World Health Day in 1998. The safe motherhood site includes the full text of WHO's summary statement on safe motherhood in both English and French. It reviews the current status of maternal health, the social and economic importance of safe motherhood, and the key elements needed to ensure maternal health. WHO calls for delaying childbearing, ensuring skilled attendance at delivery, improving access to and quality of maternal health services, preventing unwanted pregnancy, and addressing unsafe abortion. The WHO site also includes information on the Making Pregnancy Safer initiative, a health sector strategy for reducing maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity.

UNICEF

UNICEF is a partner in the Safe Motherhood Initiative. This site describes UNICEF's activities, including efforts to promote safe motherhood by helping build mother-friendly societies and improve the survival and health of both mothers and infants. The site includes publications on several topics related to safe motherhood, including Facts for Life, and information on gender concerns and health. Also available in Spanish and French.

UNICEF: End of Decade Databases. This database includes a range of indicators on maternal and child health that relate to the goals of the World Summit for Children. The delivery care indicators include antenatal care, childbirth care, and obstetric care.

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is the world's largest international source of funding for population and reproductive health programs. The UNFPA works towards achieving reproductive health for all women around the globe through their work with government and non-governmental organizations.