Global Health Expert Hilde Cortier joins Maternity Foundation as Programme Director
On August 14th, 2023, Hilde Cortier takes up the position as Programme Director at Maternity Foundation. Hilde is a global expert in sexual and reproductive health and rights and has worked in multiple countries across sub–Saharan Africa and South Asia in both humanitarian and development settings. She has worked with numerous UN agencies, with Doctors Without Borders, and at Save the Children. Hilde has also served as a lecturer at KIT Royale Tropical Institute in the Netherlands and at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Belgium. She is trained as a midwife and holds a master’s degree in Reproductive and Sexual Health Research from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
“We have worked with Hilde for many years as a partner and have always admired her as a person and as a leader. Her deep technical expertise within both training and broader maternal and newborn health programming, her focus on evidence and her vast field experience makes her a fantastic match to Maternity Foundation. We are proud and exciting to able to bring such a capacity on board,” says CEO Maternity Foundation Anna Frellsen.
At Maternity Foundation, Hilde will be leading Maternity Foundation’s global programme portfolio. She will be overall responsible for our large country programmes in Ethiopia and India, and our regional efforts across the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, the Arab states and soon also Latin America. She will be part of the executive management team at Maternity Foundation. A main focus will be to work with our programme team on reaching and supporting as many midwives and other healthcare workers as possible with Safe Delivery App and the related programme.
“I have used the Safe Delivery App for years now, in many ways and projects, and I am completely in love with it! I guess that is a very good reason to be excited to start my new job at Maternity Foundation. I am grateful for this opportunity to join the team and use my experience and expertise to contribute to improved maternal and newborn care worldwide,” says Hilde.
Hilde joins Maternity Foundation at a crucial time where progress on reducing maternal deaths has stalled. Each year, almost 300,000 women and 2.4 million newborns die because of pregnancy or childbirth. Most deaths happen in poor and fragile settings, and the majority can be prevented if the women received quality care from a skilled midwife.
For more information, please contact Head of Communications at Maternity Foundation, Helle Degn: + 45 30561551 / helle@maternity.dk
More about Maternity Foundation: www.maternity.dk
More about the Safe Delivery App: www.safedelivery.org
