Excerpt: “The fact that when mothers are in good health, babies grow in the womb in very similar ways the world over is a tremendously positive message of hope for all women and their families,” says Professor Zulfiqar Bhutta, from The Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan and the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada, who is the Chair of the Steering Committee of this global research team.
With projects already underway such as Maternal Alliance for Mobile Action (MAMA), which telecommunicates healthcare advice to moms and moms to be in countries such as Bangladesh with reduced access but high mobile phone consumption, it’s possible that change could come about quickly in some places.
According to Bhutta, communication is only half the battle, and the real challenge lies in changing the beliefs and habits among health professionals.
“There are implications in terms of the way we think about public health: This is about the health and life chances of future citizens everywhere on the planet,” says Bhutta. “All those who are responsible for health care will have to think about providing the best possible maternal and child health.”
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