Publications

Maternal and Child Health Conference Report (2025)

This report details the successful second iteration of a 5-day maternal and child health training program, which expanded the cohort of midwives in Sierra Leone equipped with life-saving skills. The training, hosted at the Kenema Midwifery School, focused on crucial areas like Helping Mothers Survive: Bleeding After Birth and Essential Newborn Care, and also included sessions on quality improvement and mental health. It also provided opportunities for Rising Trainers from previous trainings to develop their leadership and mentorship skills, contributing to long-term improvements in maternal and child health outcomes across Sierra Leone.

Maternal and Child Health Conference Report (2024)

Our first conference report delves into the successful collaboration of 19 organizations that came together to train nearly 100 midwives in essential maternal health practices. This comprehensive document offers valuable insights into the lessons learned, key factors contributing to the conference’s success, and the detailed methodology employed. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or just starting your journey in global health, this report provides actionable guidance for those seeking to build capacity through continuous medical education in the Global South. Discover how to replicate this impactful initiative and improve maternal health outcomes worldwide.

From Silos to Synergy: How the Funding Landscape is Shifting for Maternal and Newborn Health, Justice, and Equity (2021)

This report, developed by Global Health Visions in partnership with the Global Force for Healing and the National Birth Equity Collaborative, aims to reflect the current funding landscape for maternal and newborn health, rights, and birth equity programs, in the U.S. and around the world. Through an in-depth analysis of U.S.-based donors, the report highlights current trends, gaps, and key recommendations for shaping the future of maternal and newborn health, justice, and equity through the funding landscape, including how donors can be more responsive to community needs and increase impact for all stakeholders.

Funding Equity: Birth Justice and Human Rights in Maternal and Infant Health (2019)

Funding Equity: Birth Justice and Human Rights in Maternal and Infant Health is a collection of position papers on the critical role of funders in promoting birth justice and human rights in the U.S. and worldwide. Funding Equity is more than a report. It powerfully addresses underlying causes of disparities in worldwide access to quality care during the childbearing years for marginalized communities, and offers effective solutions from organizations on the ground.

Healthy Birthing Teaching Guide for Expectant Fathers (2019)

This document is produced as part of the “Paternity Project” implemented by Cameroon Agenda for Sustainable Development (CASD) in Cameroon with the generous support of Global Force for Healing (GFH) and the Ministry of Public Health Cameroon. The objective is to increase knowledge resources on ANC and Postnatal care targeting expectant fathers in limited resource settings.

Organizations, families and individuals can use this document to enhance the skills of expectant fathers on their role in achieving a healthy childbirth. The manual takes the man from identifying a pregnant woman, supporting the pregnancy, assisting in the delivery, providing care to the newborn, and planning for the next child (if needed).

Global Birth Models (2014)

This report highlights effective organizational models for healthy childbirth in particular cultural settings, in order to provide guidance, inspiration, and ideas that may be applicable to other cultural environments. We also highlights why particular strategies and each model as a whole leads to successful birth outcomes and reduction of maternal and infant deaths.

Check out the Helping Children Worldwide Optimistic Voices Podcast

Radical Courage – 3 Women Willing to Pay the Price to Put Children First – Optimistic Voices

Send us Fan MailA lot of people want to help vulnerable children, but few of us stop to ask the hardest question: what if we are the problem? Our support of children in adversity could be fueling family separation and making the situation worse. Dr. Laura Horvath sits down with Dr. Rebecca Nhep (Better Care Network) and Elli Oswald (Faith to Action Initiative) to unpack “radical courage” in global child welfare and care reform. Our guests discuss how embracing truth required us to change long-held assumptions with humility, publicly challenge orphanage models, and face our own culpability in power dynamics. They candidly share when being courageous made them the focus of uncomfortable power dynamics within their communities and careers.Elli reflects on the courage of families on the ground, including parents navigating poverty, disability, and lack of services who may see residential care as their only option. Rebecca pushes us to reframe the common “abandonment” narrative and to take an honest inward look at the stories that make donors feel like saviors. Rebecca and Elli share their views on the topic addressed in our prior episode (Barna Study) . She talks about how research on Christian support for institutional care reflects both positive and negative trends for change.She explains why action is slow to follow belief, why boldness must stay compassionate, how change requires listening well before speaking, and speaking with kindness presumed.Then we get practical about donor responsibility, the power attached to money, and what mutual partnership requires when evidence points toward family-based care, deinstitutionalization, and stronger child protection systems. We also address the “rice pot” problem of fundraising and marketing, plus the real safeguarding risks that can emerge when children become the commodity. The goal stays simple and demanding: keep a North Star on children’s best interests, even when it costs us comfort, reputation, or relationships.If you care about family strengthening, Think Global, Do Justice WebsitePassionate about your faith and making a difference in the world? Check out this podcast! ________Travel on International Mission, meet local leadership and work alongside them. Exchange knowledge, learn from one another and be open to personal transformation. Step into a 25 year long story of change for children in some of the poorest regions on Earth.https://www.helpingchildrenworldwide.org/mission-trips.html****** ____Organize a Rooted in Reality mission experience for your service club, church group, worship team, young adult or adult study. No travel required. Step into the shoes of people in extreme poverty in Sierra Leone, West Africa, Helping Children Worldwide takes you into a world where families are facing impossible choices every day.Contact support@helpingchildrenworldwide.org to discuss how. ___________Family Empowerment Advocates support the work of family empowerment experts at the Child Reintegration Centre, Sierra Leone. Your small monthly donation, prayers, attention & caring is essential. You advocate for their work to help families bring themselves out of poverty, changing the course of children's lives and lifting up communities. joinSupport the showHelpingchildrenworldwide.org