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  Every Second Matters for Mothers and BabiesTM—Uterine Balloon Tamponade (ESM-UBT) Every year, an estimated 130,000 women die from postpartum hemorrhage—uncontrolled blood loss from mothers during birth. This case study – the first in a series from the Launch and Scale Speedometer initiative – presents an overview of key elements that determined the pace of introduction and uptake of the ‘Every Second Matters for Mothers and BabiesTM-Uterine Balloon Tamponade’ to treat postpartum hemorrhage. This simple and inexpensive life-saving intervention, fashioned from a condom attached to a Foley catheter, was designed for use in low-resource settings. Read more about it here.
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Saving Lives at Birth: Evaluating the Impact of a Grand Challenge for Development

Saving Lives at Birth: Evaluating the Impact of a Grand Challenge for Development

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Duke University is releasing today (Thursday, June 18, 2020) the results of its two-year evaluation of the Saving Lives at Birth (SL@B) Grand Challenge for Development. Co-led by the Duke Global Health Innovation Center and Duke Global Health Institute Evidence Lab, the  evaluation  seeks to examine SL@B in the global landscape of maternal and newborn health (MNH) innovation funding, understand the role of SL@B in filling a gap in MNH innovation funding, and analyze the impact of SL@B on sourcing and scaling MNH innovations between 2011 and 2020. The evaluation utilized a quantitative and qualitative mixed-methods approach using multiple sources of data and produced several work products in the form of reports and briefs, culminating in the report released today. The Enduring Challenge: Maternal and Newborn Mortality In 2015, WHO…
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Increasing Access to Healthcare Services for Cross-Border and Mobile Communities in East Africa

Increasing Access to Healthcare Services for Cross-Border and Mobile Communities in East Africa

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Dembe is a citizen of Uganda who resides in Tororo, a trading hub in the eastern region of Uganda that is 10 km from the border with Kenya. She works as a fishmonger in the local market and recently gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. As a mother of a newborn, she knows her daughter requires immunization but has yet to find a clinic that will offer this service. The most accessible health clinic to her in Uganda is unable to provide the needed vaccinations because of a stockout. In addition, the nurses at the clinic were unable to refer her to another clinic because they were not sure which one had an adequate supply of vaccines. Dembe considered visiting the next closest clinic, but it is located on…
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Partnering to Scale Impact

Partnering to Scale Impact

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The saying “two minds are better than one” rings especially true in the field of global health innovation. For grantees and finalists of the Saving Lives at Birth (SL@B) program, the DevelopmentXChange (DevX) is an annual event that brings together innovative minds from across the world, producing excellent opportunities for partnership development. From partnerships with peer-innovators with complementary technologies, to investors and distributors, SL@B innovators have made a wide range of connections by attending DevX. The event provides interactive workshops, mentorship and partnership meetings, and ample networking opportunities, including an Innovation Marketplace where all innovators can showcase their projects. Through these elements, DevX fosters a collaborative atmosphere that has contributed to the successful development of numerous partnerships. While the types of collaborations are diverse, there are common themes in how…
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Learnings for Accelerating Scale: Key Takeaways from 2018 Xcelerator Workshop

Learnings for Accelerating Scale: Key Takeaways from 2018 Xcelerator Workshop

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From measuring newborn heartbeats to delivering safer anesthesia for obstetric emergencies – the range of promising products, technologies, and services advanced by Saving Lives at Birth (SL@B) Innovators has one overarching theme: reduce maternal and newborn mortality. Despite their common purpose, however, SL@B innovators face diverse challenges in moving their innovations to scale. The Duke Global Health Innovation Center and VentureWell are partnering with the SL@B program to provide Accelerating SL@B, a program tailored to offer additional support and resources for innovators who have grants to improve maternal and newborn health outcomes through the SL@B program. The Accelerating SL@B team held the Xcelerator workshop in Nairobi, Kenya from May 29 – June 1, engaging SL@B innovators in strategic thinking about their challenges to scale. While common struggles include identifying a…
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