Solutions Journalism Network: Maternal Health Guidebook

This 12-page guide, produced in partnership with the Solutions Journalism Network, introduces journalists to potential solutions-oriented angles to maternal health stories (i.e., stories about women’s health during pregnancy and childbirth). The guide was distributed at the Women Deliver conference in May 2013 in Kuala Lumpur.

Highlights of the guide:

• We use data from the authoritative Global Burden of Disease study to uncover “bright spots,” or places where maternal mortality has decreased tremendously and could offer insights for others.
• We present some basic maternal health statistics (how many, where, and how women are dying) and introduce the biggest challenges in maternal health.
• We outline several ways communities and innovators are responding to maternal mortality – and for each, noted pros, cons, and potential sources to use, if you’re interested in digging deeper.
• We collect advice from a few leading global health journalists about reporting on this sensitive issue.
• We present a few resources that can get you started.

Journalists interested in integrating a solutions approach into reporting related to health should consider applying for a solutions travel grant from the Pulitzer Center.

The Solutions Journalism Network was founded by Tina Rosenberg and David Bornstein of The New York Times.