Prof. Jelle Stekelenburg combines his job as Consultant Obs & Gyn at the Medical Centre Leeuwarden with holding a chair as Professor International Aspects of Reproductive Health, in particular Safe Motherhood, at the University of Groningen. He is the chairman of the Working Party International Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health (www.safemotherhood.nl).

His professional drive is based on, on one hand, the observation that motherhood is still not safe for many underprivileged women all over the world, but mainly in low resource settings, and, on the other hand, acknowledgment of the right to access the best possible standard of maternal health. Large differences in outcome of pregnancy still exist between different countries, but also within countries. State parties, governments, multilateral health organisations and individual health professionals have the immediate obligation to work on the progressive realisation of the highest possible standard of reproductive, sexual and maternal health.

Prof. Stekelenburg’s activities focus on research and education. He collaborates with PhD-candidates from all over the world, aiming to design evidence-based interventions in different contexts that are effective in improving maternal and neonatal health outcome indicators. In education he takes every opportunity to teach his students about what still needs to be done to reach the aim of safe motherhood for all.