Maternal Health News and Research

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UNFPA executive director speaks about necessity of family planning services at A.U. maternal health event

"Ensuring availability of family planning services and their acceptability to every woman, man and to young people, would improve the health of mothers and children in Africa, besides saving health care systems unnecessary expenditure, according to Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, executive director of the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA)," who spoke at a maternal health event on the sidelines of the African Union summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Monday, PANA/AfriqueJet reports.

30 Jan 2013

Nigerian President, Norwegian Prime Minister release report on saving lives of women, children

Nigerian "President Goodluck Jonathan and the Prime Minister of Norway, Jens Stoltenberg, have said this year will be 'a tipping point for change' and global awareness for saving more lives, especially those of women and children."

25 Jan 2013

Final day of global maternal health conference focuses on human rights

In her last report from the Second Global Maternal Health Conference in Arusha, Tanzania, Jocalyn Clark, senior editor of PLoS Medicine, writes in the PLoS "Speaking of Medicine" blog about the final day of the three-day conference.

19 Jan 2013

Blogs report on global maternal health conference

Crystal Lander, director of policy and advocacy at Management Sciences for Health (MSH), writes in the MSH "Gobal Health Impact" blog about the Second Global Maternal Health Conference taking place in Arusha, Tanzania, and she describes a speech by Agnes Binagwaho, Rwanda's minister of health. She says of the conference, "So far, the emphasis on multiple voices and knowledge sharing has gotten it off to an excellent start."

18 Jan 2013

Miscarriage and molecular signals: an interview with Prof Brosens and Prof Quenby

Miscarriage is defined as the spontaneous loss of pregnancy before the baby reaches viability. Besides the physical trauma, miscarriage causes considerable anxiety, stress, and depression.

17 Jan 2013

Global maternal mortality conference focuses on quality of care

Jocalyn Clark, senior editor of PLoS Medicine, reports on the three-day global conference on maternal health taking place this week in Arusha, Tanzania, in a post on the PLoS "Speaking of Medicine" blog.

17 Jan 2013

Roundup: States facing Medicaid woes; Experts say N.Y. squeezed; Colorado, N.C. govs extend funding for mental health care

Rising health care costs are pushing up the amounts states must spend on the Medicaid insurance program for the poor, sending some scrambling to find funds, according to a report released on Tuesday by the National Conference of State Legislatures. The report found that spending on Medicaid and other public health care programs is currently over budget in 10 states, compared to six states at the same point last year.

20 Dec 2012

Examining maternal, newborn health care in Ethiopia

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog features two posts on maternal health in Ethiopia. In the first, Jennifer James, founder of Mom Bloggers for Social Good, writes about her trip to the country to "observe Save the Children's work with frontline health workers."

13 Dec 2012

Canada's foreign aid agency, Grand Challenges Canada announce global health partnership

"Canada's foreign aid agency will work with Grand Challenges Canada in a bid to bring ideas for health innovation to the developing world, International Co-operation Minister Julian Fantino says," the Globe and Mail reports.

13 Dec 2012

Recognizing reproductive rights as human rights

Noting the recognition of International Human Rights Day on December 9, Purnima Mane, president and CEO of Pathfinder International, writes in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog, "Every person should be able to make decisions about her or his body," making reproductive rights a human rights issue.

11 Dec 2012

Lancet examines Indonesia's efforts to reduce maternal mortality

The Lancet examines Indonesia's efforts to reduce maternal mortality, one of the Millennium Development Goals President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has identified as a national priority.

8 Dec 2012

Nokia to donate infant delivery kits to UNFPA

UNFPA and mobile phone company Nokia announced this week that the "company will donate the equivalent of 3,000 clean delivery kits to the fund," according to an UNFPA press release.

8 Dec 2012

Use resources efficiently to end AIDS epidemic

"[O]ne thing I've learned from working on HIV/AIDS my entire political career -- we are far better united than divided," Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) writes in a Politico opinion piece, noting examples of bipartisan legislation that "help to slow the rate of infections and reduce the number of deaths from AIDS."

1 Dec 2012

Alberta Children's Hospital performs first liver cell transplant in Calgary, Canada

A three-month-old Winnipeg girl has become the first patient in Canada to receive an experimental and potentially life-saving form of therapy to improve the function of her liver.

29 Nov 2012

IPS examines undernourishment, efforts to reverse vitamin deficiencies

"Poverty is the leading cause of many vitamin deficiencies, especially vitamin A," and the problem is acute in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where food staples such as cassava and rice are high in calories but low in nutrients, Inter Press Service reports.

28 Nov 2012

Most African countries not on track to achieve MDGs, U.N. officials say

"Most African countries are lagging behind in achieving the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals [MDGs] and will not make as much progress in health, nutrition and sanitation as had hoped, U.N. officials said" on Thursday, the Associated Press/ABC News reports.

20 Nov 2012

A.U. launches website on maternal, newborn survival program

"The African Union has launched a new website for its Campaign on Accelerated Reduction of Maternal, Newborn and Child Mortality in Africa (CARMMA)," which "aims to promote maternal and newborn survival, and provide evidence on progress to achieving health targets that have been set by African leaders," according to the Maternal Health Task Force's blog.

16 Nov 2012

Low levels of omega-3 may be behind postpartum depression

Low levels of omega-3 may be behind postpartum depression, according to a review lead by Gabriel Shapiro of the University of Montreal and the Research Centre at the Sainte-Justine Mother and Child Hospital.

16 Nov 2012

Blog posts address possible global health, foreign policy priorities in second Obama administration

After President Barack Obama's re-election on Tuesday, the following blog posts addressed possible foreign policy priorities during the next administration.

9 Nov 2012

BMJ examines debate over government program to reduce maternal mortality in India

"An Indian government program to reduce the number of home births by giving expectant mothers cash grants has increased the number of hospital deliveries, but gaps in health care services are still causing avoidable maternal deaths, an alliance of health organizations has said," BMJ reports.

2 Nov 2012