Maternova

Earlier this year, I blogged about Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. I mentioned that the text effectively revealed the widespread plight of women in the developing world, and issued a clear call for change through awareness and action.

Meg Wirth is one of those people who's responded to the call and is helping save lives. When Meg learned that pregnancy is a leading cause of death among women of childbearing age in the developing world (because so many women, quite simply, bleed to death), she took action and founded Maternova, an online marketplace for safe and simple birthing technologies.

Conceived as a media platform, Maternova is now focusing on core questions of supply and distribution.

• What effective, low-cost tools (in development or on the market) can save mothers' and newborns' lives in low-resource settings?
• How and where should global health innovators direct their efforts?
• In low-resource areas, where do the facilities exist that can provide women with skilled care?
  
  Source, About Maternova web page, http://maternova.net/about-maternova 

Maternova is also working to provide postpartum hemorrhage kits, midwife alert bracelets, and other deliverables to midwives and health care workers in areas with high maternal mortality rates.

I was fortunate enough to hear Meg speak at BIF-6 and meet her afterwards, and I wanted to share that here.

You can read more about Meg and Maternova via the links below:

• Maternova
• Maternova on Twitter @maternova
• BIF-6 Meg Wirth Speaker Page