Ophelia Dahl Writes for WBUR on How to Reduce Maternal Mortality Worldwide

Partners In Health Co-founder Ophelia Dahl recently wrote for WBUR’s Cognoscenti, the Boston-based public radio station’s opinion page, about the need to reduce maternal mortality in countries like Sierra Leone, where 1 in 17 women die in pregnancy and childbirth. For comparison, the rate is 1 in 3,800 in the United States.

“The reason why some women die in childbirth and others don’t has nothing to do with biology or culture, and everything to do with apathy,” she wrote.

“We have the tools to reduce maternal mortality, to stop what my colleagues would call ‘stupid deaths,’ especially in poor countries like Sierra Leone.”

In her article, Dahl leans on PIH’s example to explore what is needed to reinforce a health care system so that women don’t have to fear pregnancy and childbirth. Those lessons can be applied from the poorest to the richest nations in the world—from Sierra Leone to the United States.

Read Dahl’s entire article here.