Global Health Council
Where the community meets, partnerships form and linkages are found
Conceptually, integrating maternal, newborn and child health with postpartum family planning services makes sense – these populations and their needs are integrally linked. The larger question is whether it can be a practical and workable solution to provide health care to millions of women and children.
For more information on the MNCRH Initiative, contact Rachel Hampton.
- The feasibility of integration depends largely on the goals that programs are trying to achieve and the context in which they are working. Integrated programs may not be the most appropriate option to achieve disease-eradication goals or respond to sudden outbreaks of disease, but they are a valuable option for a variety of other health goals, such as reducing maternal and child mortality and increasing access to reproductive health services.
- Safe pregnancy and childbirth, healthy children and ability to control one’s fertility are important goals for families and key indicators of good health. To meet these goals, women need access to health services before, during and after birth.
- In addition to care for a current pregnancy, women need family planning services to space or prevent subsequent pregnancies. Their children need access to health care immediately after birth and throughout their first years of life to provide a foundation for healthy growth and development.
- Providing these services to both mothers and newborns and eliminating barriers to care are crucial, since mothers and children are most vulnerable in the first hours and days following birth.
For more information on the MNCRH Initiative, contact Rachel Hampton.
The Maternal, Newborn, Child and Reproductive Health (MNCRH) Initiative focuses on:
- Informing the U.S. Administration and Congress – advance MNCRH interventions (particularly programmatic and policy integration), linkages with other health areas, investments and commitments. Activities will focus on: engaging Congress and the Administration, providing member-based policy and programmatic recommendations, expanding the knowledge base on Capitol Hill and among presidential candidates, and amplifying civil society voices.
- Informing the global health community, other key stakeholders, and the general public – convey the importance of MNCRH. Activities will focus on: leveraging GHC’s electronic, print and social media presence, and encouraging members to promote MNCRH through their media.
- Translating evidence into sound policy – activities will focus on: providing evidence for effective and pragmatic interventions and policies through print and electronic publications, identifying successful ways to integrate MNCH with reproductive health/family planning, and highlighting the reproductive health needs of adolescent girls.
