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Midwives save lives – but more support for midwifery is needed
Midwives could avert over 80 per cent of all maternal deaths, stillbirths and newborn deaths.
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Barcode technology transforms access to family planning in the Philippines
A UNFPA-supported project aims to replace manual reporting with simple barcode scanning for family planning stocks.
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Training new midwives in storm-hit Mozambique
A veteran of multiple humanitarian crises is part of UNFPA's response team for Cyclone Idai in Beira.
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A nightmare within a nightmare: Taking on sexual and gender-based violence in humanitarian crises
The prevalence of gender-based violence often increases in times of crisis, as protection mechanisms break down, support services falter and stresses on families mount. In Yemen, reports of gender-based violence…
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Menstruation is not a girls' or women’s issue – it’s a human rights issue
“My periods are a nightmare,” Nyanjuma Galoth, 20, told UNFPA at a civilian protection camp in South Sudan. “They are very painful, and I can’t get any sanitary products.” It is a major source of stress, she said. “The…
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Treatment for traumatic childbirth injury gives new hope to women in Afghanistan
“I saw myself as the living dead,” 50-year-old Laila* told UNFPA. She suffered terribly while giving birth in Pakistan 27 years ago. The prolonged, obstructed labour left her with an obstetric fistula – one of the most…
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Ending obstetric fistula: Devastating and preventable childbirth injury continues to haunt women
Despite her best efforts, the delivery went worse than she could have imagined. Ms. Yakobo ended up with an obstetric fistula – one of the most serious and tragic injuries that can occur during childbirth.
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5 ways female genital mutilation undermines the health of women and girls
Girls and women who undergo FGM face a range of serious health risks – from potentially fatal bleeding to childbirth complications to long-term psychological problems.
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A long road to safety, healing for refugee mothers in Iraq
"I felt the world just stopped and the few minutes that passed felt like an eternity. I couldn’t feel my heart beating anymore and broke into heaving sobs."
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