“It was an afternoon clinic and there was this young woman who came in with a new baby on her front, and an old new baby on her back, and the rule was you needed to have your husbands signature to get contraceptive service, and I thought that was really not equitable, because I’d never heard of a place that required men to have their wife’s agreement to getting any health care service.”

Jill Sheffield tells the story of how women’s health and reproductive health came to be her life’s work. Sheffield is the founder of Women Deliver, an organization launched in 2007 to advocate against maternal death, and promote investment in women’s health.

On the official day of the birth of the 7 billionth baby on earth, experts like Sheffield are stressing the importance of investing in women- their health, education and human rights – to combat poverty and improve development around the world.