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Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ

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Maternal health

Each year, thousands of women around the world die or suffer long-term consequences from what are often preventable pregnancy-related complications. Although the global maternal mortality rate has dropped in the last 30 years, not all countries and regions are making the same kind of progress, according to a by the  (IHME).A variety of factors influence the health of an expectant mother, from access to health care and nutrition to social and economic inequities. The following are a few examples of what faculty and staff at the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ are doing to better understand these and other factors and improve maternal health:

  • Mama Amaan (Safe Motherhood) Project, a pilot program between the Somali Health Board and the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ, that seeks to provide culturally appropriate pre- and post-natal support for mothers in East African immigrant and refugee communities in King County.
  • is a public-private partnership whose work is supported by IHME, an independent population health research center at the Ä¢¹½ÊÓÆµ. The initiative’s goal is to improve maternal and child health in eight countries across Central America by reducing disparities.
  • Researchers at the are studying the links between a mother’s employment status during her pregnancy and a baby’s weight at birth. Their that women who work in jobs with unpredictable schedules and a lack of benefits have a higher risk of delivering babies with lower birth weights.
  • Researchers at the , and are studying whether more generous Earned Income Tax Credit payments benefit maternal health. Their recently showed that economic support reduces alcohol misuse and depressive symptoms among low-income mothers.
A pregnant woman with the image of a rural community in the background

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