Before Writing Review background Information about Maternal Health: Maternal health (who.int) (copied from the WHO maternal Health Page) Maternal health refers to the health of women during pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period. Each stage should be a positive experience, ensuring women and their babies reach their full potential for health and well-being. Although important progress has been made in the last two decades, about 295 000 women died during and following pregnancy and childbirth in 2017. This number is unacceptably high. The most common direct causes of maternal injury and death are excessive blood loss, infection, high blood pressure, unsafe abortion, and obstructed labour, as well as indirect causes such as anemia, malaria, and heart disease. Most maternal deaths are preventable with timely management by a skilled health professional working in a supportive environment. Ending preventable maternal death must remain at the top of the global agenda. At the same time, simply surviving pregnancy and childbirth can never be the marker of successful maternal health care. It is critical to expand efforts reducing maternal injury and disability to promote health and well-being. Every pregnancy and birth is unique. Addressing inequalities that affect health outcomes, especially sexual and reproductive health and rights and gender, is fundamental to ensuring all women have access to respectful and high-quality maternity care. About 140 million births take place every year and the proportion attended by skilled health personnel has increased: from 58% in 1990 to 81% in 2019. This is mostly due to larger numbers of births taking place at a health facility. Deaths from complications during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postnatal period have declined by 38% in the last two decades, but at an average reduction of just under 3% per year, this pace of progress is far too slow. It also hides vast inequalities within and across countries. More than half of maternal deaths occur in fragile and humanitarian settings. SubSaharan Africa and Southern Asia share the greatest burden of maternal deaths, 86% of the global total in 2017. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offers an opportunity for the international community to work together and accelerate progress to improve maternal health for all women, in all countries, under all circumstances. SDG targets for maternal health include 3.1, aiming for an average global ratio of less than 70 deaths per 100 000 births by 2030, and 3.8, calling for the achievement of universal health coverage. These cannot be achieved without reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health coverage for all. Improving maternal health is one of WHO’s key priorities, grounded in a human rights approach and linked to efforts on universal health coverage. WHO advocates for health planning where women’s values and preferences are at the centre of their own care. Meaningful engagement and empowerment of women, families, communities, and providers is essential for quality improvement initiatives. Promoting health along the whole continuum of pregnancy, childbirth and postnatal care is also crucial. This includes good nutrition, detecting and preventing diseases, ensuring access to sexual and reproductive health and supporting women who may be experiencing intimate partner violence. It is WHO’s responsibility to monitor progress towards the global goal for reducing maternal death (SDG target 3.1). WHO generates data, research, clinical guidelines and programmatic tools to support achievement of global targets and evidence-based strategies for ending preventable maternal mortality (EPMM) and improving maternal health and well-being. WHO supports Member States as they implement plans to promote access to quality health services for all. Strong partnerships are crucial, such as The Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, launched by WHO and UNICEF. My main interest: I’m interested in global public health, more specifically global maternal health. I’m interested in the intersectionality between pregnant people, global health, health care, access to care, and health disparities. I want to study the relationship that pregnant people have and their access to care (all kinds of care (healthcare, mental health, job equality, childcare, education), and how that access to care or not affects their wellbeing and their experience of their pregnancy. I’m most interested in how pregnant people’s access to care (all kinds of care (family planning, prenatal, postnatal, Postpartum, and Antenatal) in different countries affects those countries maternal and infants’ mortality rates and how those factors affect or contribute to those rates. Statement of Purpose: (to include, use pieces of what I wrote, but make it sound better, please.) *Does not have be written in this order, can be written in whatever order you think flows best. • Why are you interested in pursuing a Master of Public Health degree and how will this prepare you for your career? o • A lot of the internship/volunteer opportunities I took part in in college I took part in were in the realm of public health. Social activism, working at a community outreach/low-income school, spearheading a tobacco cessation program at my college. With all the classes and internships, I took part in in college my interests lay in public health all of the work that can be done there. How have the previous work and volunteer experiences led you to apply to the MPH? o I currently work as a clinical assistant in a TMJ orofacial pain medicine clinic. Working with patients who have pain or joint disorders related to the jaw or temporomandibular joint. I a rural clinic and we see a wide range of patient from young children to the elderly. Being a rural clinic and the only clinic that specializes in TMJ in the area. I have learned a lot about limited access to care for some patients, and how it is difficult to coordinate care for some, who need more specialized care, I have also learned about the struggles and wonders of patient advocacy. o One of the internships I took part in this program at a local community outreach low-income preschool. A group of students and myself where a part of this program were we spent a few days each week in a preschool classroom to get to know the kids. We hung out with them, had snack with them and played games with them for about an hour three days a week. The second half of the time that we were there we implended an educational program. The Kiddie CATs on the Move program is a 30-minute physical activity curriculum designed for preschool students (3 – 5 years of age). Kiddie CATs is designed to help preschoolers reach moderate-to-vigorous activity levels, become more aware of their bodies, practice important gross motor skills and learn the importance of incorporating physical activity into their daily lives. The program was initially designed to Examines how physical activity may assist in managing symptoms of attentiondeficit/hyperactivity disorder and other common conditions such as anxiety, depression, and autism in children. o • My college received a grant from the American Cancer Society to transition our campus, to a tobacco free campus. While I was in college, I became one of the leading members of team created by the Associate Dean of Students to be one of two student interns on initiative, to raise awareness of the impending tobacco-free campus policy. The goal we were focused on was to communicate with the faculty, staff, and students in regard to the new tobacco policy, which is going into that year. Throughout the year we had held many events and gathered data to learn how many people on campus smoke, the forms of tobacco used, and how many people were aware of the policy, we also held and promoted many different educational and cessation events throughout the year to engage both faculty, staff, and students. Racism has been identified as a public health crisis by the American Public Health Association. How do you plan to be actively antiracist and use your public health training to interrupt systems of oppression, discrimination and abuse that exists where you study, live, and work? o I am particularly interested in health disparities, more especially maternal health disparities. What is written below is copy from link below, its written way better than I could ever say it but it exactly what I am interested in. o Reducing Disparities in Black Maternal Health | Power to Decide o The United States has more pregnancy-related deaths than in most developed nations. In 2015, the maternal mortality rate increased from 17 deaths to 26 deaths per 100,000 live births. Although the numbers are alarming, the disparity in mortality rates for minority women are even more devastating, with Black women being three to four times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related complication than their white counterparts. Pregnancy related deaths among African American women have accounted for 42 deaths per 100,000 live births versus 12 deaths per 100,000 live births among white women (Murray, 2019). • o A variety of factors contribute to this disparity. One factor includes the lack of access to high-quality reproductive health services. For women living in poverty, pregnancy related deaths are significantly higher than the national average. Another major driver of maternal health disparities in the US is the association between non-communicable diseases and maternal mortality. Data suggests that the lack of access to prenatal care may be a contributor, as women who receive no prenatal care are three to four times more likely to have a pregnancy-related death than women who receive prenatal care. Notably, only 75 percent of all US women receive the recommended number of prenatal visits, however this even less among African Americans (68 percent) and American Indian or Alaska Native women (59 percent) (Murray, 2019). o Potential solutions do exist to address the racial differences in maternal mortality rates but implementing these solutions may pose challenges. For communities of color maintaining a healthy pregnancy and delivery can mean the difference between life and death. The decision to implement systemic measures that can help save lives cannot come soon enough for women who may become pregnant. In fact, a truly comprehensive solution would begin with health care and service providers first engaging in meaningful conversations with women to understand their desire for pregnancy. Please explain why you are interested in applying to your first-choice concentration and second choice concentration (if applicable). o I’m interested in global public health, more specifically global maternal health. I’m interested in the intersectionality between pregnant people, global health, health care, access to care, and health disparities. I want to study the relationship that pregnant people have and their access to care (all kinds of care (healthcare, mental health, job equality, childcare, education), and how that access to care or not affects their wellbeing and their experience of their pregnancy. I’m most interested in how pregnant people’s access to care (all kinds of care (family planning, prenatal, postnatal, Postpartum, and Antenatal) in different countries affects those countries maternal and infants’ mortality rates and how those factors affect or contribute to those rates.
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