World Health Day on Monday 7 April will celebrate healthy beginnings and hopeful futures through a 12-month maternal and newborn health campaign.
Healthy beginnings, hopeful futures, will urge governments and the health community to ramp up efforts to end preventable maternal and newborn deaths, and to prioritise women’s longer-term health and well-being.
The World Health Organization says almost 300,000 women die due to pregnancy or childbirth globally each year, while more than 2 million babies die in their first month and around 2 million more are stillborn. Health systems must therefore evolve to manage the many health issues that impact maternal and newborn health, including direct obstetric complications and mental health conditions, noncommunicable diseases and family planning.
Available to comment:
Associate Professor Kirsten Palmer, Monash University Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology Deputy Head, Monash Health Obstetrician and Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist, Head of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Monash Medical Centre
Contact details: +61 3 9903 4840 or [email protected]
- Pregnancy care
- Maternal fetal medicine
- Complex pregnancies
- Placental disorders
The following can be attributed to Associate Professor Palmer:
“Pregnant women have long been excluded from participating in clinical trials. This has led to a lack of evidence to ensure them access to best care. There has also been a global lack of investment in the development of new medications for use in pregnancy, which has resulted in the stagnation of advances to improve outcomes for women impacted by hypertension in pregnancy and preterm birth, major causes of maternal and perinatal death and disability, along with many other conditions. At Monash we are addressing this inequity through the creation of a pregnancy clinical trials team to achieve healthy beginnings and hopeful futures.
“This team is currently supporting over 16 clinical trials at all stages of pregnancy. Through our collaborations with Monash Health and Hudson Institute of Medical Research, we have developed a translational pipeline of therapeutics, which includes the world's first trial of melatonin for fetal neuroprotection in the setting of fetal growth restriction (study here), early stage research progressing sulforaphane for preeclampsia (study here) and creatine for fetal protection from birth asphyxia (study here). All these treatments are developed with a global focus, to ensure our outcomes are accessible to women around the world, being all heat stable, orally available and cheap.
“Women who experience the poorest outcomes in pregnancy are often those who lack access to care. We have been exploring approaches to improve women's access to high quality care and how digital technologies can support this. We have already been able to show that telehealth-integrated care can support access to care without compromising care outcomes (studies here, here and here).
“Models of care integrating digital health will likely be crucial in supporting women following birth to support hopeful futures through improved access to perinatal mental health support, as well as education and care to minimise the long-term poorer health outcomes women can have after pregnancies complicated by hypertension, diabetes, or preterm birth.”
Dr Briony Hill, Deputy Head, Monash University Health and Social Care Unit in the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine
Contact details: +61 3 9903 4840 or [email protected]
Read more of Dr Hill’s commentary at Monash Lens
- Weight stigma as an equity issue for women and its emotional and physical impacts across preconception, pregnancy and postpartum
- How we can change policies and environments to address weight stigma in maternity care
The following can be attributed to Dr Hill:
"Weight stigma is an equity issue as it negatively affects the quality of maternity care provided to almost half of all women. Ending weight stigma could promote a healthier start to life to babies born to over 3.3 million Australian women each year.
“Weight stigma against women is a societal issue. It requires commitment and change from governments, workplaces, health services and communities, each doing their part to chip away at the last remaining acceptable form of discrimination.
“Listening to larger bodied women is incredibly important in our journey to end weight stigma for women. While it can be difficult for women to share their stigmatising and potentially traumatic experiences, their insights bring value and empathy to the conversation that provide the foundation for change."
Professor Jane Fisher AO, Finkel Professor of Global Health, Co-Director Division of Planetary Health Director Global and Women’s Health, Monash University School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine
Contact details: +61 3 9903 4840 or [email protected]
Read more of Professor Fisher’s commentary at Monash Lens
- social determinants of health
- gender-based risks to women's mental health and psychological functioning from adolescence to mid-life, in particular related to fertility, conception, pregnancy, the perinatal period and chronic non-communicable diseases
- parenting capabilities and early childhood development in low- and high-income settings, including Australia and Vietnam.
- expert technical advisor to international agencies including the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the United Nations Population Fund.
The following can be attributed to Professor Fisher:
"Every child deserves a healthy start to life. This requires careful attention to the needs of their caregivers. Women's mental and physical health and their social contexts all require consideration."
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For any other topics on which you may be seeking expert comment, contact the Monash University Media Unit on +61 3 9903 4840 or [email protected]
