News

As a part of Pathfinder's Continuum of Care model, the non-pneumatic anti-shock garment is helping save the lives of women suffering from postpartum hemorrhage.

"Having a medical problem during pregnancy can be stressful, even fatal under dire circumstances. However, knowing the solution and applying it at the right time can help save the lives of many. And that is what a new technological innovation known as non-pneumatic anti-shock garment has been modeled for: to save the lives of women who experience excessive bleeding after child birth."

To fill the need for a comprehensive, evidence-based tool for training health professionals in the safe and effective delivery of family planning services, the Evidence to Action Project finalized a groundbreaking new tool.

Investment in maternal and child health is key to moving Pakistan forward on the Millennium Development Goals.

To reduce maternal mortality the report recommends Pakistan continue efforts to increase coverage of high-quality services including family planning, antenatal and postnatal care, skilled delivery and emergency obstetric care.

NASA technology in the form of the non-pneumatic anti-shock garment is saving mother's lives worldwide by preventing and stopping postpartum hemorrhage.

“Working in parts of the world where distance is the difference between life and death demands solutions that can begin in the community or in the home, and keep women safe at every stage,” said Purnima Mane, president and CEO of Pathfinder International, a non-profit family planning and reproductive health organization.

Pathfinder's work supports women like Aisha, a mother who suffered from postpartum hemorrhage when having her ninth child. By emphasizing family planning and the importance of pre- and postnatal care, Pathfinder reducing maternal mortality worldwide.

Aisha gave birth to her ninth child at home in Nigeria in 2009. Hemorrhaging and in shock, she was immediately rushed to the Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital in Kano, northern Nigeria. Upon arrival her blood pressure was very low and she had lost a lot of blood, a leading cause of maternal death in developing countries.

This week we were outraged to hear that El Salvador’s Supreme Court denied a young mother’s appeal to allow her doctors to perform a potentially life-saving abortion.

Doordarshan News covers the launch of Pathfinder International's maternal mortality project in India, an initiative in collaboration with World Health Partners and funded by Merck for Mothers.

"The health of women, especially pregnant women, is a matter of grave concern. In today's scenario, the health sector has seen so much advancement. More than 200 pregnant women out of 100,000 died during labor pains in (India). Although there has been significant strides in reducing the mother mortality rate, a lot needs to be done in tackling the problem."

New Vision takes a look at how family planning and energy conservation go hand-in-hand on Bussi Island as part of Pathfinder's Health of People and Environment in the Lake Victoria Basin project.

The project uses integrated approaches to improve access to health services, especially family planning, sexual and reproductive health, while helping communities to manage natural resources and conserve the ecosystems on which they depend.

Katy Sorenson reflects on her visit to family planning projects in Peru with Pathfinder International and Population Action International, emphasizing the importance of sexual and reproductive health around the world.

Investments in family planning—whether at home or abroad—just make sense. Women who have access to a full range of effective contraceptive methods and reproductive health services are better able to protect themselves against HIV, more likely to get further education, and better able to earn a good living to support themselves and their families.

Pathfinder International uses the non-pneumatic anti-shock garment as a part of a "Continuum of Care" in our work in Bangladesh and Nigeria to stop postpartum hemorrhage from resulting in maternal death.

The innovative Non-Pneumatic Anti-shock Garments (NASGs) was on display on the concluding day of the Women Deliver conference in the Malaysian capital. Research indicates wrapping the NASG from the ankle to the navel of a woman facing post-delivery bleeding and awaiting transfer to a hospital can save her.

+SocialGood talks with Pathfinder International's President and CEO Purnima Mane at Women Deliver 2013 in Kuala Lumpur.

"Our main agenda item (at Women Deliver) is to focus on the countries in which we work. To ensure that the unmet need for family planning is something that's being addressed and learning how we can partner with others working in the same area. And also making sure we're highlighting young people." -Purnima Mane

At Women Deliver 2013, conference attendees discuss the idea that maternal health and other gender-related issues don't only affect the lives of women, girls, and children, but also help shape the economies and societies that they live in.

Pathfinder's President Purnima Mane said while better maternal health is a moral and ethical goal in its own right, a stronger economic argument will perhaps bring more pressure to bear on governments, donors, and the private sector to follow through on their commitments. She cited Pathfinder’s SCIP project in Mozambique as an example of a cross-sectoral intervention that combines health, environment, and economic development efforts and improves accountability through close interaction with community and government leadership.

On Tuesday, Pathfinder was named the winner of the "Female Condoms Are ____" film contest organized by PATH, the Universal Access to Female Condoms Joint Programme, the Center for Health and Gender Equity, and the National Female Condom Coalition.

“Female Condoms Are My Power, My Protection, My Pleasure!” is one of nearly 30 short films from 12 countries that were submitted to the contest to describe what female condoms mean to the filmmakers and their communities and how female condoms might enhance their lives.

Pathfinder is thrilled to announce that “Female Condoms Are… Power. Protection. Pleasure,” based on our female condom work in Mozambique has won the international “Female Condoms Are…” film contest.

This new blog takes a look at how Pathfinder is creating demand for and providing access to youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services in rural South Africa.

Pathfinder has enabled six existing rural community health centers to provide additional sexual and reproductive health services, therefore preventing the necessity of long distance travel—for some. Perhaps the most impressive part of their work is the way Pathfinder ensures services are suited to youth.

New research and analysis from Pathfinder International, the University of California San Francisco Safe Motherhood Program, and PATH shows that innovative, collaborative efforts to address postpartum hemorrhage are working.

As the world tunes in for Women Deliver 2013, the UNFPA and global leaders emphasize the importance of meeting the tremendous unmet need for contraception.

Community-oriented work to change social norms around gender and enabling social and economic policies are essential to prevent early marriage, to keep girls in school, and to help women to space their births and give birth safely, when they want to bear children, said Purnima Mane, who heads Pathfinder International.

At Pathfinder International, data is a critical component of our work. Throughout the year, our team tracks the progress of our programs using a set of global indicators. We're pleased to share some of the highlights of the report below.

Purnima Mane advocates for increased family planning funding and identifies political will and a focus on community-based work as two of the most important factors in our efforts to advance the status of women and girls around the world.

Asked how best the contraceptive needs could be met, Dr. Purnima Mane, president and chief executive officer of Pathfinder International, told IPS the United Nations and the international community need to continue advocating for increased funding – domestic and international – for access to contraception and for the integration of family planning into universal health coverage in all possible forums and through broader partnerships across sectors.

Pathfinder is pleased to announce a new three-year grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation in support of crucial work in West Africa targeting the unmet need for contraception among young married adolescents in Guinea, Burkina Faso, and Niger.