Gender in Maternal and Reproductive Health: Synopsis

Maternal, reproductive, and newborn health (MRNH) is a key determinant of the opportunities that women and their children will have in life. MRNH includes a woman's right to safely bear children and to freely decide whether to have them, how many to have, and when. Gender equity in health refers to the absence of avoidable differences between men and women in access to health care and in the probability of suffering illness, incapacity, or premature death. It requires overcoming unfair and avoidable disparities between men and women in, for example, health outcomes, access to services and resources, and distribution of health care responsibilities in the family and community.