Mother and child health: delivering the services. 2nd edition.

The most important change in this third edition of "Mother and Child Health: Delivering the Services" is the focus on women rather than on mothers. Females carry large and often undervalued burdens from birth through childhood and adolescence and during and between pregnancies. Health providers must think about how they can best extend services to women rather than making impractical demands on them as mothers. Many of the studies and examples in this book are classic pioneering efforts of at least 50 years ago which have only recently been recognized and replicated in many countries. The main themes of the book are the following: the importance of breast feeding and nutrition; preventive care; birth control begins with death control; services must be community based and extensive; the importance of training community health workers; woman-centered services; parents matter; and acknowledging the increasing number of the elderly. The discussion on breast feeding and nutrition is not limited to just the scientific aspects but also addresses the social and personal aspects (e.g. food shortage is not always the root cause or only cause of malnutrition; cuddles are as important as calories). The books authors recommend an approach to improve health care worldwide. It involves supporting an environment that empowers households to improve their own health promoting the rights and status of women minimizing inequitable health services improving access to quality health care for the poor and unserved dedicating more funds for common debilitating diseases and prevention increasing funds for cost-effective interventions best delivered at low level facilities minimizing inefficiency and waste and using national natural resources wisely.