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After 46 years of suffering, fistula survivor finds relief
A phone call changed Nachilango Bisolomo’s life.
For 46 years, she had suffered from an obstetric fistula, a stigmatizing injury caused by childbirth complications. Fistula causes incontinence and can…
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Young people call for education, health care, rights – and politicians are listening
Life is not often easy for Liberia’s young people. It has been 14 years since the end of a brutal civil war, but in many ways communities are still reeling. Poverty is rampant, school enrolment rates are low and…
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Investments in male condoms save lives, make economic gains for countries
UNITED NATIONS, New York - Increasing investments in procuring and distributing male condoms provides a significant economic returns for countries with scarce resources, a new study finds. The study, written by experts…
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This Mother’s Day, remembering the joys – and dangers – of motherhood
Motherhood should be a time of joy, but for too many women, it comes with something else: peril.
"Becoming a mother and having a family was always a dream of mine. But I never expected it to happen…
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New survey shows violence against women widespread in Indonesia
Dita* never imagined that she would be a single mother at the age of 33. But after enduring 10 years of an abusive marriage, she found herself alone and struggling to raise two children.
Her husband had…
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Midwives offer care, dignity and a lifeline for Haiti's mothers
Elizabeth was exhausted after hours of contractions at the Petite Place Cazeau clinic, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Finally, with gentle guidance from the midwife, she gave one last push. Stifled cries filled the delivery…
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To reduce maternal deaths, look to midwives
“Mothers and babies lose their lives due to complications that could have been prevented,” Burcard Umuhoza, 28, told UNFPA in a frank conversation about the trials he faces as a midwife in Rwanda’s Gisenyi District…
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Heroic midwives save lives amid Syria’s chaos
Midwife Shatha Al Mostafa started her career at the most difficult time possible – amid the escalating violence, insecurity and human rights abuses in her home country, Syria. Since graduating from midwifery school two…
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South Sudan clashes force pregnant women into the bush, over the border
Nine mothers stood in a single-file line, cuddling their newborn babies, in a refugee reception centre in northern Uganda. Visibly exhausted and anxious, each had a story to tell about being heavily pregnant, nearing…
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