Julia Bunting, Global Director of the Programmes and Technical at The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), London will be at the University of Washington Dec. 8 as part of the 5th Annual Maternal Health Lecture Series in Honor of Beth Peterman sponsored by the Global Center for Integrated Health of Women, Adolescents, and Children (Global WACh), The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Washington Global Health Alliance Discovery Series. Bunting has more than 24 years of experience working on maternal and reproductive health globally. 

Here is a Q&A with her:

Your lecture is titled "Lifecycles – a Perspective on Reproductive & Maternal Health." Can you give us a sneak peak into the perspective you plan to discuss at your lecture?

JB: I will cover a number of lifecycles, including my own, from how I became interested in reproductive health at the tender age of 16. I’ll also will also look at patterns and trends in our field over the last 25 years.

You’ve been working in reproductive health for some time. How do you stay motivated?

JB: We are making progress. Lives are being saved and transformed, particularly as a result of the efforts of people working in country. I get to spend time connecting to programs when I meet with clients and colleagues in the field, and I can’t fail to be inspired. You can see the difference.

What are the most important gains you’ve seen in reproductive and maternal health?

JB: The issues are now on the agenda in a way that they haven’t really been before. Even when the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) were established, maternal health was seen as a low priority relative to others, and reproductive health wasn’t even there. We’ve seen massive changes and these issues are now front and center for many people.

What makes International Planned Parenthood Federation's work unique? What do they bring to the global health arena?

JB: IPPF is a global network of autonomous, nationally owned, civil society organizations. They are part of the communities they serve and are staffed and governed by people in those countries. If you want to make long term development gains and build sustainable futures you need to work with and for local organizations – this is not something that can be done by external agencies.

Why do you think it’s important for MPH, lab science, or data-focused students to learn about these issues?

JB: The obvious answer is that to prevent a maternal death requires not just supply-side or demand-side interventions but also an enabling environment. We need a fully functioning health system. The maternal mortality ratio is often seen as a marker for the strength of health systems. And beyond the health sector reproductive and maternal health are about issues of equity, rights, and empowerment. Anyone interested in improving health outcomes and/or equity and rights should be interested in the experiences of the reproductive and maternal health field.

How does reproductive and maternal health fit into the larger global health field?

JB: In reproductive and maternal health, we think about people. Women and young people in particular. We don’t just think about diseases. And that’s not to say that diseases or the work people do on diseases is not important. The focus of reproductive and maternal is about lifecycles and what the different opportunities and challenges that women deal with at different points in their life. Basically, it’s about how to provide services to people, as opposed to treating diseases.

How is the Ebola crisis affecting maternal health?

JB: What we’re hearing anecdotally in the field is that women in labor are afraid of hospitals, and they are also being turned away from hospitals because health care workers don’t think they can handle more patients and are particularly concerned about the risk of infection during delivery. The maternal health gains that have been made in countries affected by Ebola are at real risk.

What role does advocacy play in global health, in addition to advocating for funding?

JB: Awareness-raising – both of the issues and the magnitude of those issues. It’s important to communicate that improving reproductive and maternal health is something that we can do and indeed we are making significant progress. We can save these lives and improve health but we need to redouble our efforts. 

To hear more from Julia Bunting, join us on Monday, December 8 at 5:00 p.m. in the Magnusen Health Sciences Building, Room T-435.