The most comprehensive compilation of information on the status of
women in the world.

Latest items for CRPLB-PRACTICE-1

Dec. 13, 2024, 10:47 p.m.
Countries: Bangladesh
Variables: CRPLB-PRACTICE-1

"There are no dividers in the maternity room shared by more than 20 women, so visiting husbands are ushered out by nurses when someone needs attending to" (para 1). "Sarker is working with more than 5,000 pregnant women in Dacope; she visits them regularly to do check-ups and holds information sessions at the Upazila Health Complex, where women and girls can drop in to discuss any issues they might be experiencing" (para 13).
Dec. 13, 2024, 3:59 p.m.
Countries: Kenya
Variables: CRPLB-PRACTICE-1

"As specialists in medical sociology and public health, we conducted a survey in 2022 of adolescent mothers in an informal settlement in Kenya. About a third reported that they had been abused by health providers during childbirth. The study found that abusive treatment discouraged these girls from seeking future maternity care at healthcare facilities" (para 6). "The study focused on 491 adolescent girls ranging in age from 14 to 19 years, who had a biological child at the time of the interviews. Data were analysed to estimate the scale of abuse of girls during childbirth in health facilities. In total 32.2% of adolescent mothers suffered abuse from health providers during...more
Dec. 11, 2024, 11:57 p.m.
Countries: Haiti
Variables: CRPLB-PRACTICE-1

"The organisation has had no option but to close the clinic, leaving the 75 pregnant women it had been supporting with nowhere to go for medical care or to have their babies delivered. 'We’ve tried so hard to keep the clinic open but there is not much else we can do now. I can’t ask people to go to work if they might get hit by a bullet,' says Livesay. Armed gangs have terrorised the Caribbean country since its president, Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated in July 2021, but in the past month there have been unprecedented levels of violence" (para 3-5). "When Sanderline went into labour last month, she had...more
Dec. 11, 2024, 11:42 p.m.
Countries: D R Congo
Variables: CRPLB-PRACTICE-1

"Women in 13 out of 26 regions in the country will, by the end of the year, be entitled to free services during pregnancy and for one month after childbirth. Babies will receive free healthcare for their first 28 days under the scheme, which the government plans to extend to the rest of DRC – although there is no timetable for that yet. However, health workers have raised concerns that hospitals and medical centres are ill-equipped to cope with any increased demand on services. Some told the Guardian there were not enough staff, facilities or equipment to successfully introduce the $113m (£93m) programme, which is supported by the World Bank"...more
Dec. 10, 2024, 3:36 p.m.
Countries: Laos
Variables: CRPLB-PRACTICE-1

"[R]ecent research points to the need for nearly 6,000 trained midwives across the country in the next six years. In 2019, there were just 1,834 in total" (para 2). "Every year, about 200 students graduate from the country’s three internationally-accredited midwifery colleges – the first to receive the distinction in the Asia-Pacific region, with the process supported by UNFPA" (para 10).
Dec. 6, 2024, 11:26 p.m.
Countries: Nicaragua
Variables: CRPLB-PRACTICE-1

"Through the country’s universal free health care system, all prenatal, childbirth and post-natal care in Nicaragua is offered countrywide free of charge – c-sections, premature births, neonatal ICU stays and, incredibly, even fetal surgeries are all free. Home births, previously common especially in rural areas, are now nearly unheard-of – 97% of all births are in hospitals. Lay midwives who once attended home births have now been incorporated into the health care system to provide prenatal and in-hospital birth support. In Nicaragua, 25 hospitals have been built new and 46 remodeled since 2007 to make giving birth in hospital a possibility even for rural families. Respect for Nicaragua’s diverse cultures...more
Nov. 12, 2024, 1:32 p.m.
Countries: Latvia
Variables: CRPLB-PRACTICE-1

"The Committee...welcomes the fact that the State party promotes healthy lifestyles for women and girls and that the implementation of the maternal and child health improvement plan for the period 2018–2020 and of the public health guidelines for the period 2014–2020 has resulted in the improvement of a number of indicators in the area of maternal and child health, including the reduction of infant mortality" (12). "The Committee...notes with concern...[t]he limited access to high-quality maternal health care throughout pregnancy and delivery for undocumented migrant women, who are ineligible for the State party’s compulsory health insurance, and to high-quality mental health care services...The Committee recommends that the State party…ensure affordable, and,...more
Nov. 1, 2024, 10:44 a.m.
Countries: Sierra Leone
Variables: CRPLB-PRACTICE-1

"Medical care for pregnant women and babies is mostly free now in Sierra Leone, as is contraception" (para 5). "More than 90 percent of pregnant women in Sierra Leone now get prenatal care, and the great majority are assisted during delivery by a trained midwife, nurse or doctor. After delivery, nurses put babies to the breast right away and counsel moms on exclusive breastfeeding practices, reducing infant mortality" (para 9). "Obstetric fistulas are being repaired, giving girls their lives back, at a pace that couldn’t have been imagined 20 years ago" (para 12).
Oct. 17, 2024, 6:46 p.m.
Countries: Mexico
Variables: CRPLB-PRACTICE-1

"Mexico’s Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the practice of womb surrogacy. According to the ruling, surrogates are not to receive compensation for their services, limiting the exchange of money to cover expenses related to the pregnancy" (par. 1-2). Surrogate mothers can receive compensation to cover the expenses related to their pregnancy (IME - CODER COMMENT).
Oct. 16, 2024, 11:29 a.m.
Countries: Lebanon
Variables: CLCC-LAW-1, ATDW-LAW-1, CRPLB-PRACTICE-1

"No one expects any work to be done on the things that could really change women’s lives for the better, including reform to the contentious personal status laws – 15 separate religious-based laws which mean that a woman’s rights in terms of custody, divorce and marriage vary according to her sect – and the citizenship law, which means a Lebanese woman cannot pass her nationality to her children" (para 27).
Oct. 9, 2024, 7:59 p.m.
Countries: Belize
Variables: CRPLB-PRACTICE-1

"Horizon2030 discusses financing civil society organizations providing critical health services to women, children, pregnant teens, young mothers and those vulnerable to HIV and violence" (18). "Belize continued with its prevention of Mother-to-child transmission of HIV programme. Free HIV test are offered to all pregnant women. In 2010, out of the 6,631 registered pregnant women, there was 93.2 per cent coverage with HIV testing. 53 women were detected as HIV positive. The number of women who are HIV+ and pregnant decreased by around 10 per cent when compared to previous years but almost 50 per cent were repeat and unplanned pregnancies. All pregnant women detected as HIV positive receive treatment at...more
Oct. 3, 2024, 8:34 p.m.
Countries: Belize
Variables: CRPLB-PRACTICE-1

"Maternal Mortality decreased during the reporting period. In 2009, a Quality Improvement of Maternal and Neonatal Policy was adopted. This included a 'Companion at birth' policy to address the mental health/psychological health of the expectant mother and allow family involvement during labour, delivery, and postpartum periods. The 2013 MDG Scorecard reported that much of the decline in maternal mortality can be attributed to a 20 per cent increase in the number of births attended by skilled medical personnel. In 2011, there was no maternal death. In 2017, the mortality rate was at 36. That year, 94 per cent of women had given birth by a skilled birth attendant. Pre-natal care...more
Sept. 6, 2024, 10:07 a.m.
Countries: Cameroon
Variables: CRPLB-PRACTICE-1

“As the International Day to End Obstetric Fistula approaches…, scores of women who have been treated for the medical condition are encouraging their peers in northern Cameroon to get help...Now former patients and aid groups are telling families fistula can be treated. The network of women who have been successfully operated on for obstetric fistula in Cameroon's northern region say they are educating communities that it is a disease that can be treated. Hospital workers say obstetric fistula is a hole between the birth canal and bladder or rectum, caused by prolonged, obstructed labor without access to timely, high-quality medical treatment. The disease leaves women and girls leaking urine, feces...more
July 18, 2024, 6:38 p.m.
Countries: Guatemala
Variables: CRPLB-PRACTICE-1

"With the aim of reducing maternal mortality, in 2020 the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare approved the 2021–2025 action plan for the national policy on midwives of the four peoples of Guatemala, in order to fulfil the objectives and implement the provisions of the policy. The Ministry has coordinated the provision of assistance with natural vertical childbirth with the national programmes for reproductive health and for traditional and alternative medicine, strengthening cultural sensitivity. It also approved guidelines for the coordination of work with midwives during the COVID-19 pandemic. There were 21,319 traditional midwives in the national health services in 2019 and 20,804 in 2020. The Ministry of Public...more
July 17, 2024, 3:03 p.m.
Countries: Guatemala
Variables: CRPLB-PRACTICE-1

"With regard to preventing and raising awareness of child and adolescent pregnancy, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare prepared a guide on the provision of comprehensive and differentiated care to pregnant girls under 14 years of age. It has supervised operations on the ground in order to ensure that health-care staff in hospitals comply with the guide, providing training, and to record cases in the Health Information Management System. Through the Bureau for the Epidemiological Monitoring of Pregnancies in Children under 14 Years of Age, the Ministry coordinates the analyses and actions performed by health-care personnel in prevention, care and follow-up care. The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare...more
April 19, 2024, 3:06 p.m.
Countries: Serbia
Variables: CRPLB-PRACTICE-1

"[There is a] low participation of women in birth preparation programmes, especially among rural women and Roma women" (14).
March 30, 2024, 2:46 p.m.
Countries: Lithuania
Variables: CRPLB-PRACTICE-1

"[There are limited levels of] access to high -quality maternal health care throughout pregnancy and delivery for undocumented migrant women, who are ineligible for the State party ’s compulsory health insurance" (12).
March 15, 2024, 2:30 p.m.
Countries: Gabon
Variables: CRPLB-PRACTICE-1

"Free treatment for pregnant women, especially for those who are HIV-positive, [are] provided by the National Health Insurance and Social Protection Fund" (19). "Free prenatal care and delivery care for pregnant women living with HIV [is a measure taken by the government]… [I]nputs (screening tests, antiretroviral drugs and consumables) for screening and treatment for pregnant and breastfeeding women and children [are provided]" (20). "[T]he State, through the National Health Insurance and Social Protection Fund, provides free care for pregnant women and provides training for low-income women, single mothers and girl-mothers" (29).
March 14, 2024, 12:58 a.m.
Countries: Gabon
Variables: CRPLB-PRACTICE-1

"The National Health Insurance and Social Protection Fund expedites and facilitates birth registration by covering the costs of vaginal deliveries for all women who have health insurance" (14). "In 2018, Gabon launched a programme to make childbirth free of charge for all women, regardless of income or place of residence (rural or urban). This programme entitles women to: Free prenatal consultations and laboratory work[,] A full birthing kit, including medications[,] A full caesarean section kit[,] Payment of all fees associated with childbirth, including delivery by caesarean section[, and] A baby clothing bundle and a postnatal consultation" (18).
March 14, 2024, 12:55 a.m.
Countries: Gabon
Variables: CRPLB-PRACTICE-1

"[W]omen receive a number of benefits, including systematic registration for health insurance (with the National Health Insurance and Social Protection Fund) and free health care during pregnancy and childbirth. However, the existing facilities are limited in number, distant from women in rural areas, and under-resourced in terms of equipment and staff" (22).
Feb. 20, 2024, 6:27 p.m.
Countries: D R Congo
Variables: CRPLB-PRACTICE-1

"[B]asic emergency obstetric and neonatal care are insufficient and inadequate" (12). "[F]ree maternity care [is not provided] to cover prenatal and postnatal care for disadvantaged groups of women[. A]ccess [needs to be improved] throughout the territory to basic prenatal and postnatal care and emergency obstetric services provided by skilled birth attendants (13). This can indicate that basic prenatal and postnatal care is present but lack access due to the cost or the limit of skilled birth attendants (MV-coder comment).
Feb. 20, 2024, 2:26 p.m.
Countries: D R Congo
Variables: CRPLB-PRACTICE-1

"Pygmy women [do not] have access to affordable sexual and reproductive health-care services, basic prenatal and postnatal care and emergency obstetric services" (15).
Jan. 29, 2024, 5:50 p.m.
Countries: Bosnia-Herzegovina
Variables: CRPLB-PRACTICE-1

"[D]iscrimination and physical and psychological violence against women [were reported] in maternity wards" (12). "[A]ll allegations of violence against women by staff in maternity wards [are not properly investigated]" (13). "[A]ll health service staff [are not trained] on the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women, in particular pregnant women and women and girls living with HIV/AIDS" (13). "[There is] limited access to health-care services, including maternal care services [against refugee and asylum-seeking women]... "[T]he special needs of refugee and asylum-seeking women and girls [are not addressed], including through the provision of delivery and postnatal care in reception centres" (14).
Jan. 19, 2024, 12:06 p.m.
Countries: Central African Rep
Variables: CRPLB-PRACTICE-1

"A total of 37,272 simple deliveries were performed in health facilities, including 10,546 deliveries by adolescent mothers aged 10–24 years and 2,585 Caesarean sections during the same period" (14). "[The] national health development plan (2006–2015) and the health sector transition plan (2015–2017) [have] several actions to support women... [These include] providing free emergency obstetric care [, and] Providing free prenatal exams and HIV/AIDS testing for pregnant women" (37).
Jan. 16, 2024, 6:33 p.m.
Countries: Botswana
Variables: CRPLB-PRACTICE-1

"Government collaborates with Men Care, a civil society organisation, to strengthen greater involvement of men in ante-natal, delivery and post-natal care as well as child rearing" (14). "In this regard the country continues to intensify capacity-building for nurses and doctors through the Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care (CEmONC) training to improve quality in the provision of comprehensive abortion care to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality" (19).
Jan. 13, 2024, 5 p.m.
Countries: Central African Rep
Variables: CRPLB-PRACTICE-1

"In Bangui, the Castors hospital is the model for free preventive and curative care for women before, during and after childbirth" (36).
Jan. 4, 2024, 10:41 a.m.
Countries: Singapore
Variables: CRPLB-PRACTICE-1

"In January 2021, an inter-agency taskforce was set up to oversee the development of a Child and Maternal Health and Well-being Strategy and Action Plan to better support women and their children… [E]very pregnant woman will have equitable access to quality maternal care services including pre-natal check-ups, obstetrics services, neo-natal care and breastfeeding and lactation support" (6).
Jan. 3, 2024, 3:50 p.m.
Countries: Singapore
Variables: CRPLB-PRACTICE-1

"In January 2021, Singapore set up an inter-agency Taskforce to oversee the development of a Child & Maternal Health and Well-being Strategy to better support women and their children... [E]very pregnant woman will have equitable access to quality maternal care services including pre-natal check-ups, obstetrics services, neo-natal care, breastfeeding and lactation support" (32). Singapore has not achieved full access to these services yet (MV-coder comment).
Nov. 6, 2023, 11:49 p.m.
Countries: China
Variables: CRPLB-PRACTICE-1

"The Government provides free screening for HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B for all pregnant women, as well as free comprehensive interventions and services for preventing mother-to-child transmission for all infected pregnant women and their children... In 2017, more than 99 per cent of pregnant women received testing for HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B; 90 per cent of HIV-infected pregnant women were treated with antiretroviral drugs; 80 per cent of syphilis-infected pregnant women were on treatment; the rate of mother-to-child transmission of HIV fell to 4.9 per cent… 99.7 per cent of children born to hepatitis B-infected women received hepatitis B immune globulin injections; and 96.8 per cent of newborns were...more
Nov. 3, 2023, 11:41 a.m.
Countries: South Korea
Variables: CRPLB-PRACTICE-1

“The ministry currently accounts for just 0.2% of the government's budget but women say it has made a concrete difference to their lives. Since it was established more than 20 years ago it has supported the victims of hidden spy-cams and women who have been fired after getting pregnant, and secured more generous child support payments for single mothers” (para 20). “Only after the #MeToo movement did Ana find the strength to seek help. She went to a support centre for victims of crime, but they wanted evidence before agreeing to help her. She made her case to the doctor, who told her she was delusional and denied the support....more