Maternal Health News and Research

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Uganda cannot achieve development without increased investment in maternal health

In this Daily Monitor opinion piece, Anthony Masake of the Uganda Law Society stresses the importance of addressing maternal mortality in Uganda and asserts that the country cannot achieve development without increased efforts to meet national maternal health targets.

1 Oct 2011

Sierra Leone First Lady discusses work to improve maternal mortality

NPR's Tell Me More on Friday interviewed Sierra Leone First Lady Sia Nyama Koroma about her work aimed at improving maternal health in her country. Koroma was in New York attending the African First Ladies Fellowship Program "that brings together Western European and American first ladies with their African counterparts for an exchange of ideas and best practices," according to the program.

27 Sep 2011

Financial and political commitments to improve health of women and children

In only one year, more than 100 countries, foundations, multilateral organizations, the UN, the private sector, and academic and professional associations have made unprecedented financial and political commitments to greatly improve the health of women and children.

21 Sep 2011

ACC cardiologist to address the United Nations Summit on Non-Communicable Diseases

Cardiologist William Zoghbi, M.D., will address the United Nations Summit on Non-Communicable Diseases next week to argue that abating heart disease should be a target of the United Nations' eight Millennium Development Goals.

19 Sep 2011

Midwife shortages across UK

According to a warning from the Royal College of Midwives parts of England are facing a dangerous shortage of midwives as Britain's birthrate climbs. The RCM added that while shortages are seen across the country, some areas are worse than others, putting mothers and babies at risk.

16 Sep 2011

Report urges integrated aid approach to tackle poverty, disease

Action Against Hunger, Action for Global Health, End Water Poverty, PATH, Tearfund and WaterAid on Wednesday released a report that "provides clear and compelling evidence that a new combined approach to tackling poverty and disease that brings together work on water and sanitation, health, education and nutrition achieves better results for the world's poorest," according to a joint press release.

16 Sep 2011

Integrated health, education and water/sanitation programs can defeat disease and poverty

As governments prepare to gather at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 19 and 20, a new report published by a group of six influential aid agencies provides clear and compelling evidence that a combined approach to tackling poverty and disease-that brings together work on water and sanitation, health, education, and nutrition/food security-achieves better results for the world's poorest.

15 Sep 2011

A woman's pregnancy outcome can be an indicator of future health conditions

"A woman's pregnancy outcome can be an indicator of future health conditions," stated George R. Saade, M.D., president of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine and professor of obstetrics and gynecology at The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas.

14 Sep 2011

Preterm babies may be experiencing pain during procedures: Study

Preterm may begin to feel pain around a woman's 35th week of pregnancy, about two to four weeks before delivery, according to a new study from University College London. Using EEG, researchers recorded the babies' brain activity in response to pain, comparing their pain responses from a touch and prick on the heels. The findings were published in the journal Current Biology.

9 Sep 2011

African countries see slow progress in reducing maternal mortality to achieve MDG 5

Inter Press Service examines what some experts are calling a lack of commitment from health care workers, which they say is "among the reasons why Africa may not succeed in achieving Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5 on improving maternal health by 2015 by reducing maternal mortality by three quarters."

9 Sep 2011

HSPH receives Gates Foundation grant to improve maternal health in developing countries

A new three-year, $12 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will support a Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) effort to significantly improve maternal health in developing countries.

8 Sep 2011

Women struggling to find truly free health care in Sierra Leone's system, Amnesty International report says

"Sierra Leone's free health care plan for pregnant women and young children is dysfunctional and hobbled by corruption and a lack of accountability," according to a report released Tuesday by Amnesty International, Agence France-Presse reports.

8 Sep 2011

Family planning can improve maternal and child health, survival

Describing a maternal health program that promotes family planning in the rural village of Bweremana in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Michael Gerson writes in his Washington Post column that "the very words 'family planning' light up the limbic centers of American politics."

31 Aug 2011

New guidelines on management of cardiovascular disease in pregnancy

New ESC guidelines emphasise the importance of screening and risk assessment. Pre-existing heart disease is rarely a contraindication to pregnancy - indeed, many women with heart disorders tolerate pregnancy well - but it remains a "major concern" that complications are frequent and in some cases may be life-threatening for both the mother and her child. In Europe maternal heart disease has now become the major cause of maternal death during pregnancy.

26 Aug 2011

GlobalPost examines whether U.S. policy prohibiting funding for abortion services hurting GHI efforts in Nepal

GlobalPost reports on President Barack Obama's Global Health Initiative (GHI) in Nepal, one of eight GHI focus countries, and examines whether "a long-standing U.S. law" that "prohibits U.S. funds from being used for abortion services overseas for the purpose of family planning ... is hurting its efforts to improve health care" in the country.

26 Aug 2011

Commuting worst for women with pre-schoolers

Commuting to and from work affects women worse than men and mothers of pre-school youngsters are the worst affected, says a new study. They are four times more likely to suffer mental problems than men with children of a similar age.

23 Aug 2011

Disadvantaged, unhealthy mothers more likely to have sickly children

Disadvantaged, unhealthy mothers are much more likely to have sickly children than are disadvantaged moms who are relatively healthy—and this is not only due to genetics, suggests new research to be presented at the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association.

22 Aug 2011

Flu immunization targets fall short for health workers and pregnant women

According to a new survey despite recent improvements in influenza vaccination rates among U.S. health care personnel, their rates for the 2010-2011 flu season still fell short of national health objectives.

18 Aug 2011

Making sense of maternal mortality statistics

Referring to a Maternal Health Task Force infographic depicting maternal mortality worldwide, Jen Quraishi, editorial coordinator for Mother Jones, writes in a post on Mother Jones' "Blue Marble" blog that "there are lots of ways to juggle maternal mortality numbers, and ultimately I find the death rate per capita more useful than the total number of deaths … Charts like these obscure the point that the relative wealth and size of a country do have an effect on its maternal mortality, but they're not everything."

18 Aug 2011

A call for safer birth practices in Timor-Leste

Cassandra Clifford, founder and executive director of Bridge to Freedom Foundation, calls for safer birth practices in Timor-Leste in this Aid Netherlands blog post.

16 Aug 2011