Miswaki Village, Tanzania—When her water broke, Helena Paschal was alone at home. Although her due date was several weeks away, she knew the labor was real. “I felt a sharp pain around my waist. I sensed the baby was coming,” she recalled. There was no time to call a neighbor or do anything but just
Khordha district, Odisha, India In the five villages served by health care provider Subhasini Dei, Thursdays are reserved for women and their families with heart conditions, high blood pressure, diabetes and other noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). An auxiliary nurse-midwife for 30 years, Dei has noted a growing incidence of these conditions among her clients, a worrisome
(This story first appeared in 2010). As a young doctor in Kenya, Harshad Sanghvi saw woman after woman arrive at the district hospital bleeding profusely after giving birth at home. Many lived in far-off villages where the local health clinic was little more than a one-room hut. Families would do what they could to get
