Maternal Health and Human Rights: National and Global Perspectives
Every day, approximately 800 women die from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. In 2010, a shocking 287,000 women died of such complications. Ninety-nine percent of these deaths occur in developing countries, where a woman has a one in 150 chance of ultimately dying from a pregnancy or childbirth-related cause. Severe bleeding after birth, infection due to poor hygiene, untreated high blood pressure, or unsafe abortion cause approximately eighty percent of these deaths. Most of these women could be saved if only governments possessed the financial capability and the political will to make maternal health a priority.
In an attempt to build awareness of these issues, foster collaboration among experts from different fields, and explore possible solutions, Georgetown Law’s Human Rights Institute and O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, in partnership with Amnesty International USA and the Center for Reproductive Rights, convened a conference in April 2012 to explore the subject of maternal health and human rights. This event brought together government representatives, nurse-midwives, attorneys, human rights scholars, and some of the most committed advocates and service providers to exchange ideas and work on the issue of maternal health and human rights.
2012 Conference Program:
Conference Participants
- Sneha Barot, Senior Public Policy Associate, Guttmacher Institute
- Debra Bingham, Vice President of Research, Education, and Publication, Association of Women’s Health, Obstetrics, and Neonatal Nurses
- Rosa Celorio, Human Rights Specialist, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of
the Organization of American States - Sarah Craven, Chief, Washington Office, United Nations Population Fund
- Brent Ewig, Director of Public Policy and Government Affairs, Association of Maternal
and Child Health Programs - Cristina Finch, Policy and Advocacy Director, Women’s Human Rights, Amnesty
International USA - Cynthia Flynn, General Director, Family Health and Birth Center
- Betsy McCallon, Deputy Director, Global Secretariat, The White Ribbon Alliance for
Safe Motherhood - Deborah Reid, Senior Attorney, National Health Law Program
- Susan Deller Ross, Professor of Law, Director and Founder, International Women’s
Human Rights Clinic, Georgetown Law - Aram Schvey, Policy Counsel for Foreign Policy and Human Rights, Center for
Reproductive Rights - Susannah Sirkin, Deputy Director, Physicians for Human Rights
- Mary Ellen Stanton, Senior Maternal Health Advisor, United States Agency for
International Development - Ann M. Starrs, President, Family Care International