Jill Sheffield | |
|---|---|
 Jill Sheffield (left) at 21 Leaders Honorees | |
| Born | Jill Sheffield |
| Education | BA in Education, Glassboro State College (1961); MA in Columbia University (1963) |
| Notable work | Founder of Women Deliver |
Jill Sheffield is an advocate for women's sexual and reproductive health and rights, with a focus on reducing global maternal mortality. She is the founder of Women Deliver, [1] [2] a global organization committed to advancing maternal health and gender equality.
Sheffield earned a Bachelor of Arts in Education in 1961 from Glassboro State College (now Rowan University) [3] and a Master of Arts in Comparative and International Education in 1963 from Columbia University. [4] [5]
She volunteered at the Pumwami Maternity Hospital's family planning clinic in Kenya in the 1960s, [6] the first such clinic in East Africa. [7] At the time, Kenyan women were legally required to obtain their husbands’ permission to use contraception. [6] This inspired Sheffield to shift her career focus from teaching towards advocating for women's reproductive freedom, sexual health, and mother's rights. [8] [9] Sheffield served as director of the Carnegie Corporation of New York's international education programs [1] [4] and as director of Africa and Latin America programs and regional representative for World Education. [10]
In 1987, Sheffield co-founded Family Care International (FCI), [1] [5] a non-profit global organization focused on improving the maternal health of women in the world's poorest nations. Sheffield was the president for 20 years. [8] FCI was the first international organization founded specifically to focus on maternal mortality, [11] family planning and reproductive rights. FCI was also integrated into Management Sciences for Health in 2015. [12]
In 2007, Sheffield founded Women Deliver, [1] [2] which began as a conference focused on maternal health that evolved into an advocacy organization. [13] It seeks to generate political commitment and financial investment to reduce maternal mortality and increase access to reproductive health.
In 2011, Sheffield served as one of 30 commissioners on the UN Commission on Information and Accountability for Women's and Children's Health. [4] Sheffield has been involved with the International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region, [4] [6] and Population Communications International. [14] Sheffield has been chair of Woman Care Global (now Catalyst Global), [4] chair of the FIGO Committee on Contraception and Family Planning, [15] external advisor to the IPPF Governing Council, [4] and senior adviser to Global Health Strategies. [4] In 2018, Sheffield was named a board member of Catalyst Global (formerly WCG Cares). [4]
The American Public Health Association granted Sheffield its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008, [16] the same year that Family Care International received the United Nations Population Award for outstanding work in sexual and reproductive health and rights. [17] [18] Sheffield has also been recognized as a distinguished alumna by Columbia University's Teachers College. [5]
Along with Melinda Gates, Sheffield was awarded the 2016 Champions for Change Lifetime Achievement Award by the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW). [19]
Obstetrics and gynaecology is the medical specialty that encompasses the two subspecialties of obstetrics and gynaecology. The specialization is an important part of care for women's health.
Family planning is the consideration of the number of children a person wishes to have, including the choice to have no children, and the age at which they wish to have them. Things that may play a role on family planning decisions include marital situation, career or work considerations, financial situations. If sexually active, family planning may involve the use of contraception and other techniques to control the timing of reproduction.
Maternal death or maternal mortality is defined in slightly different ways by several different health organizations. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines maternal death as the death of a pregnant mother due to complications related to pregnancy, underlying conditions worsened by the pregnancy or management of these conditions. This can occur either while she is pregnant or within six weeks of resolution of the pregnancy. The CDC definition of pregnancy-related deaths extends the period of consideration to include one year from the resolution of the pregnancy. Pregnancy associated death, as defined by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), are all deaths occurring within one year of a pregnancy resolution. Identification of pregnancy associated deaths is important for deciding whether or not the pregnancy was a direct or indirect contributing cause of the death.
Women's health differs from that of men's health in many unique ways. Women's health is an example of population health, where health is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity". Often treated as simply women's reproductive health, many groups argue for a broader definition pertaining to the overall health of women, better expressed as "The health of women". These differences are further exacerbated in developing countries where women, whose health includes both their risks and experiences, are further disadvantaged.
Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to reproduction and reproductive health that vary amongst countries around the world. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights as follows:
Reproductive rights rest on the recognition of the basic right of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so, and the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health. They also include the right of all to make decisions concerning reproduction free of discrimination, coercion and violence.
Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is a field of research, health care, and social activism that explores the health of an individual's reproductive system and sexual well-being during all stages of their life. Sexual and reproductive health is more commonly defined as sexual and reproductive health and rights, to encompass individual agency to make choices about their sexual and reproductive lives.
EngenderHealth is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., with a focus in sexual and reproductive health (SRH). The organization operates in nearly 20 countries throughout Africa, Asia, and North and South America.
MSI Reproductive Choices, named Marie Stopes International until November 2020, is an international non-governmental organisation providing contraception and safe abortion services in 37 countries around the world. MSI Reproductive Choices as an organisation lobbies in favour of access to abortion, and provides a variety of sexual and reproductive healthcare services including advice, vasectomies, and abortions in the UK and other countries where it is legal to do so. It is based in London and is a registered charity under English law.
The International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) is a non-profit organization with offices in Washington, D.C., United States, New Delhi, Ranchi, and Jamtara, India, Nairobi, Kenya, and Kampala, Uganda. ICRW works to promote gender equity, inclusion and shared prosperity within the field of international development.
Available healthcare and health status in Sierra Leone is rated very poorly. Globally, infant and maternal mortality rates remain among the highest. The major causes of illness within the country are preventable with modern technology and medical advances. Most deaths within the country are attributed to nutritional deficiencies, lack of access to clean water, pneumonia, diarrheal diseases, anemia, malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.
Reproductive justice is a critical feminist framework that was invented as a response to United States reproductive politics. The three core values of reproductive justice are the right to have a child, the right to not have a child, and the right to parent a child or children in safe and healthy environments. The framework moves women's reproductive rights past a legal and political debate to incorporate the economic, social, and health factors that impact women's reproductive choices and decision-making ability.
Contraceptive security is an individual's ability to reliably choose, obtain, and use quality contraceptives for family planning and the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases. The term refers primarily to efforts undertaken in low and middle-income countries to ensure contraceptive availability as an integral part of family planning programs. Even though there is a consistent increase in the use of contraceptives in low, middle, and high-income countries, the actual contraceptive use varies in different regions of the world. The World Health Organization recognizes the importance of contraception and describes all choices regarding family planning as human rights. Subsidized products, particularly condoms and oral contraceptives, may be provided to increase accessibility for low-income people. Measures taken to provide contraceptive security may include strengthening contraceptive supply chains, forming contraceptive security committees, product quality assurance, promoting supportive policy environments, and examining financing options.
Sarah Degnan Kambou is president of the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), a global research institute that focuses on making women integral to alleviating poverty worldwide.
Ipas is an international, non-governmental organization that seeks to increase access to safe abortions and contraception. To this end the organization informs women how to obtain safe and legal abortions and trains relevant partners in Africa, Asia, and Latin America on how to provide and advocate for these.
Women Deliver is a global advocacy organization focused on improving maternal health. The organization is based in New York, and its work covers a number of areas including access to a healthy diet, clean water and sanitation, health services, and appropriate education during pregnancy and childbirth. It is targeted towards reducing maternal mortality and increasing access to reproductive health.
Access to safe and adequate sexual and reproductive healthcare constitutes part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as upheld by the United Nations.
Latin America is home to some of the few countries of the world with a complete ban on abortion and minimal policies on reproductive rights, but it also contains some of the most progressive reproductive rights movements in the world. With roots in indigenous groups, the issues of reproductive rights include abortion, sexual autonomy, reproductive healthcare, and access to contraceptive measures. Modern reproductive rights movements most notably include Marea Verde, which has led to much reproductive legislation reform. Cuba has acted as a trail-blazer towards more liberal reproductive laws for the rest of Latin America, while other countries like El Salvador and Honduras have tightened restrictions on reproductive rights.
Women's reproductive health in Russia refers to the set of physical, mental, and social health issues and services available to women in Russia. It includes the rights, laws, and problems experienced by women and their families regarding proper reproductive health. Women account for over half of the Russian population and are considered a vulnerable population due to political and social problems from inequalities in gender, age, socioeconomic status, and geographical location that affect access to comprehensive health care. As Russia struggles with a decreasing birthrate and increase in STIs, HIV, and poor reproductive health care, the need for government financed services and international programs is essential to successfully reach this vulnerable population. Currently, women in Russia access care through government funded free services, private insurance, and NGO programs.
In Yemen, abortions are only “permitted to save the life of a pregnant woman”, making it one of the strictest abortion laws in the Middle East and the world. Abortion is not widely accepted in Yemeni society. However, because of the recent conflict in Yemen, rape, honor killings, and unsafe abortions have increased in Yemen. According to a study conducted by Canadian Studies in Population, the number of unsafe and illegal abortions are high in Yemen, which can lead to fatal health risks for women.
The Society of Family Planning (SFP) is an international non-profit professional organization established in 2005 specializing in "abortion and contraception science" composed of physicians, nurses, sociologists, public health practitioners and trainees in these fields. The majority of member physicians include specialists of obstetrics and gynecology, family medicine, and adolescent medicine.
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