Maternal Health News and Research

RSS

The essential role of midwives

Mary Ellen Stanton, a senior maternal health advisor at USAID, and Chris Thomas, global health communications and policy advisor at USAID, outline the agency's work to promote better health outcomes for women and children in the developing world on GlobalPost's "Global Pulse" blog.

6 Jul 2011

NPR examines maternal, child health in Mozambique

NPR's All Things Considered reports on efforts to improve maternal health in Mozambique. The piece, which is part of a summer series, looks at the challenges involved with getting pregnant women to hospitals and shortages of trained health worker (Block, 6/27).

29 Jun 2011

GlobalPost examines family planning and maternal health in Malawi

GlobalPost on Sunday published two articles examining family planning and maternal mortality in Malawi.

28 Jun 2011

Vitamin D supplements safe for healthy pregnant women

Use of vitamin D supplements during pregnancy has long been a matter of concern but now researchers writing in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research report that even a high supplementation amount in healthy pregnant women was safe and effective in raising circulating vitamin D to a level thought by some to be optimal. The study also found no adverse effects of vitamin D supplementation, even at the highest amount, in women or their newborns.

27 Jun 2011

Upgraded midwifery services could save up to 3.6M lives in developing countries

Up to 3.6 million lives could be saved every year if midwifery services were upgraded in 58 developing countries by 2015, according to a major new report released by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), in partnership with the University of Southampton and 28 other organisations worldwide.

22 Jun 2011

Strengthen monitoring and surveillance of malaria in pregnancy interventions

"The time of neglecting malaria in pregnancy (MIP) should be over," Bill Brieger, senior malaria specialist at JHPIEGO, writes in a Malaria Matters blog post summarizing a session on malaria and maternal health at the recently concluded Global Health Council annual conference.

21 Jun 2011

Additional, better-trained midwives needed to save millions of women and newborns worldwide, report says

"According to a United Nations Population Fund study released Monday, more and better trained midwives could help save millions of lives in" 58 countries "identified as 'suffering from a crisis in human resources for health,'" the Associated Press/Washington Post reports.

21 Jun 2011

Adequate midwifery could save 3.6 million lives, new report shows

Up to 3.6 million deaths could be avoided each year in 58 developing countries if midwifery services are upgraded by 2015, according to a major new report released here today by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, and partners.

20 Jun 2011

Global initiative to prevent HIV in babies

World leaders met to decide on the launch of a global plan with the goal of ensuring that every baby is born HIV-free by 2015 and that their mothers with the HIV virus live to raise them.

9 Jun 2011

Obama, Medvedev reaffirm efforts to eradicate polio ahead of G8 summit

President Barack Obama met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Deauville, France, ahead of the G8 summit, ABC News' "Political Punch" blog reports. "The two issued a number of joint statements and agreements on counterterrorism, civil aviation security, visa issues, the Bering Strait region, a joint report assessing 21st Century Missile Challenges, innovation, the rule of law, smart grid partnership, eradicating polio, and medical research," according to the blog.

27 May 2011

U.N. Secretary-General Ban addresses maternal mortality in Nigeria, IDPs in Cote d'Ivoire

As part of a four-country tour, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday arrived in Nigeria, where he highlighted the importance of fighting maternal and child mortality in the country, which has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in Africa, Agence France-Presse reports.

24 May 2011

16 Countries announce new commitments to reduce maternal, newborn and child mortality

Today 16 countries announced new commitments to dramatically reduce maternal, newborn and child mortality, as part of the Global Strategy for Women's and Children's Health.

21 May 2011

Pregnant women warned not to eat for two: Study

According to health experts, there is a “life-long obesity risk of 'eating for two' in pregnancy”. The common advice is reinforced by the results of a study that followed women for a number of years.

19 May 2011

High weight gain during pregnancy can put women at increased risk of becoming obese later in life

Gaining more than the recommended weight during pregnancy can put women at increased risk of becoming obese and developing related health problems, including high blood pressure, later in life.

19 May 2011

U.N. officials recognize International Day of the Midwife

U.N. officials, recognizing the International Day of the Midwife on Thursday, lauded the efforts of midwives worldwide and "called for greater investment to ensure their life-saving services are available to all who need them around the world," the U.N. News Centre reports.

7 May 2011

Secretary of State Clinton launches collaborative mobile application to advance maternal health

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday launched the Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action, a "mobile application development partnership aimed at delivering free health care information and tips to pregnant women and mothers around the world via cell phone," Federal Computer Week reports.

5 May 2011

World Malaria Day opinion pieces

Andrew Mitchell, Britain's secretary of state for international development, discusses the U.K.'s approach to combating malaria around the world in a post on the Guardian's "Poverty Matters Blog."

26 Apr 2011

Obesity and smoking linked to stillbirths: Report

According to experts, excessive weight, smoking and late maternal age over 35 are contributing to thousands of stillbirths each year in high-income countries, including Australia, and the trend looks set to continue. These figures were published in the Lancet medical journal.

13 Apr 2011

African governments must commit more funds to health to meet previous commitments, WHO, UNFPA say

Ten years "since heads of state of African Union countries met in Abuja, Nigeria, and pledged to set a target of allocating 'at least 15%' of their annual budget to improve the health sector, only Rwanda and South Africa have reached the objective," according to a recent WHO report, BMJ News reports/

1 Apr 2011

Economist articles examine agriculture, nutrition issues

In an article examining the relationship between health and agriculture, the Economist writes that while agricultural growth is "no magic solution" to helping people gain access to nutritious foods, "farming ought to be especially good for nutrition."

29 Mar 2011