---
title: "Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal and Child Health & Rights"
date: 2020-04-01T22:28:00-04:00
author: Mike Mella
canonical_url: "https://healthbridge.ca/sexual-reproductive-maternal-child-health"
section: Main Menu Pages
---
[Contact HealthBridge](/contact-us) for more information about the Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal and Child Health & Rights Program.

  ![](/dist/images/bridge-bg.svg) 

Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal and Child Health (SRMCH) and Rights are important components of the health and wellbeing of women, families, and communities. Access to adequate, affordable, and respectful SRMCH services is often limited especially for people living in vulnerable situations. Despite global improvements to SRMCH and rights, women and children still suffer from largely preventable health issues that have lifelong consequences, such as infection and malnutrition.

The health of women during the reproductive years has an impact on the lifelong health of women, infants and children. HealthBridge works to address the root causes of SRMCH and rights issues, many of which are linked to gender inequality. We recognize how gender inequality shapes and divides child care, labour, decision-making and power dynamics in relationships between men and women, in families and in society. Despite strides towards gender equality that have been made in the past decades, women still have poorer access to formal education and economic opportunities, and they lack decision making power, compared to men. Ultimately, gender inequality denies women opportunities to improve their own health and their families’ health.

While SRMCH is often viewed as a women’s issue, HealthBridge recognizes the important role that men can play in improving the health of their families. Men have the potential to actively champion gender equality and support women’s access to health services, decision-making power, and economic opportunities, in addition to reducing gender-based violence. We strive to engage men not only to change behaviours but to involve them in actively challenging the underlying gender, social and cultural norms which often produce the gender inequities that lead to poor health outcomes among women.

 

 

#### Learn

### What We Do

 

The Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal and Child Health & Rights Program works with local partners in low and middle-income countries to support and strengthen programs and policies that protect SRMCH and rights and promote gender equality in communities and among people living in vulnerable situations. Our work also focuses on increasing the availability, acceptability, and quality of comprehensive SRMCH services among marginalized, rural, remote and hard-to-reach groups. Our approach to improving SRMCH and rights includes community engagement and male engagement. We work to build knowledge and capacity in communities and strengthen health systems to provide improved SRMCH services.