Pregnancy and childbirth

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Julie Remy

Fieldset

Around the world, hundreds of women die every day from complications in pregnancy and childbirth. Almost all of these deaths are in developing countries, and most would be preventable with appropriate medical care.

Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is helping to save lives and improve maternal health by giving women a safe place to give birth: maternity units that have high levels of infection control and specialist staff.

Many MSF projects also provide information about planning pregnancies and access to contraceptives to women who want them.

Sandra Smiley

Advocacy

“She has an incredible story to tell": childbirth in Peshawar, Pakistan

An excited woman waves at Sandra – a Canadian advocacy officer – inviting her into the delivery room of Peshawar Women’s Hospital in Pakistan. She has an incredible story to tell…

07 Dec 2018

Pippa Letchworth

Obstetrician / Gynaecologist

Bruised and battered: Obstetrics in Nigeria

Pippa is an obstetrics and gynaecology consultant from the UK on assignment with Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Jahun, part of northern Nigeria’s Jigawa state – an area where high numbers of women and children die during childbirth.

23 Nov 2018

Christine Tasnier

Midwife

Ethiopia: “She named her baby Nyamire. It means decision”

Christine Tasnier is a midwife from the UK, currently working in Ethiopia’s Kule Refugee Camp – home to around 54,000 people fleeing conflict in neighbouring South Sudan.

06 Nov 2018

Kariantti Kallio

Anaesthetics

A first time for everything: learning fast in Bangui

With a patient bleeding heavily, Kariantti and the MSF team had to act quickly. He blogs from Bangui, Central African Republic...

09 Oct 2018

Kariantti Kallio

Anaesthetics

After the fight: Returning to routine in Bangui

After nearby conflict forced his MSF team to evacuate a maternity hospital in Bangui, Central African Republic, Finnish anaesthetist Kariantti writes about returning to routine in the days following the fighting.

01 Oct 2018

The triplets at Peshawar Women’s Hospital

Sundas Parvez

Nurse

Pakistan: Three baby girls and a proud mother

Sundas Parvez is a nurse in the newborn unit at Peshawar Women’s Hospital in Pakistan, where she has been working with Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) since 2014. In this blog, she writes about caring for newborn triplets and the chance to speak to their mother.

26 Sep 2018

Lanice Jones

Doctor

48 hours on the frontline of maternity care

At a maternity project in the Democratic Republic of Congo, it’s non-stop emergency medicine for Lanice, a Canadian doctor on her fourth assignment with Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF). She blogs about life, death and learning on the frontline of medical care.

24 Sep 2018

Brigitte Ireson-Valois

Nurse

Haiti: Providing tender love and care

"As we are nearing the final closure date of the hospital, we, the management team, are trying to make sure we have everything organized and planned for the final days..."

21 Sep 2018

An MSF ambulance arrives at the Castor maternity hospital in Bangui.

Kariantti Kallio

Anaesthetics

Operating under fire: Keeping calm in Bangui

Fighting rages near an MSF maternity hospital in Bangui, Central African Republic. Inside, Finnish anaesthetist Kariantti and his team try to remain calm as they continue to operate on women in need of urgent obstetric surgery.

21 Sep 2018

Kariantti Kallio

Anaesthetics

“War isn’t just about gunshot wounds”: Maternity care in Bangui

Welcome to Castors maternity hospital, the “first and last line of defence” for mothers and newborns in Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic. Finnish anaesthetist Kariantti, just back from his second assignment with Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF), shares his experience of arriving at the lifesaving hospital.

10 Sep 2018

Pippa Letchworth

Obstetrician / Gynaecologist

Wound day: Helping new mums in Nigeria fight infection

Pippa is an obstetrics and gynaecology consultant from the UK. She is currently on assignment with Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Jahun, part of northern Nigeria’s Jigawa state – working on a maternity project in an area where a high number of women and children die during childbirth. In this blog, she shares how her team treats women for complicated infections after a caesarean.

06 Sep 2018

Heidi Wikstrom

Surgeon

Surgery in Agok: Some patients you remember forever

Some patients you remember forever. Heidi shares this emotional blog from the Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) hospital in Agok, which lies in a special administrative area between Sudan and South Sudan.

18 Aug 2018