Childbirth News and Research

Latest Childbirth News and Research

FDA approves Medtronic's InterStim Therapy to improve bowel control

Medtronic, Inc. today announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of InterStim Therapy for Bowel Control. InterStim Therapy, previously available to treat the symptoms of overactive bladder and non-obstructive urinary retention, is now also approved for the treatment of chronic fecal incontinence in patients who have failed or are not candidates for more conservative treatments.

1 Apr 2011

UC San Diego student to make medical imaging available in low-income countries

Benjamin Johnson, a fourth-year student at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine is determined to make medical imaging technology widely available in low-income countries. His journey started in Uganda, where currently just 35 local radiologists serve the needs of 30 million people.

29 Mar 2011

Obesity during pregnancy endangers both mother and unborn child, but little being done to address the issue

Being seriously overweight during pregnancy increases dangers for both mother and unborn child, but little is being done to help obese mums-to-be, says a leading researcher in the field.

24 Mar 2011

U.S. hospitals bill insurance companies $1.2 trillion during 2008 for inpatient care: AHRQ

U.S. community hospitals billed insurance companies and federal and state programs $1.2 trillion in 2008 for inpatient care, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

23 Mar 2011

WHO releases first list of 30 priority medicines for women, children

The WHO on Monday released a list of 30 medicines that "are essential for treating common diseases of mothers and children," Ghana News Agency reports (3/21).

23 Mar 2011

Onset of chronic pain more often reported following a traffic accident

Individuals with poorer health or psychological issues may be prone to developing chronic widespread pain following a traumatic event. This new research, published in Arthritis Care & Research, a peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), found that the onset of chronic pain was more often reported following a traffic accident than from other physically traumatic triggers.

21 Mar 2011

Nationwide observance raises awareness about HIV/AIDS spread in women

National Women and Girls AIDS Awareness Day, a nationwide observance that raises awareness and promotes action in the fight against HIV/AIDS, took place on March 10.

17 Mar 2011

Depressed Dads more likely to spank their infants: Study

Until now it has been seen that post partum depression affects women in nearly 25% of cases. However latest research shows that new dads experience baby blues too. The results show that 7% of new fathers reported recent major depression, and many of them said they had spanked their 1-year-old babies. This new study appeared Monday in the journal Pediatrics.

14 Mar 2011

New initiative for pregnant women and newborns in rural settings

Saving Lives at Birth: A Grand Challenge for Development, was launched today to seek innovative prevention and treatment approaches for pregnant women and newborns in rural, low-resource settings.

11 Mar 2011

Mother and baby report card for NSW

The Government statistics on births in New South Wales Mothers and Babies 2008, which was released on Saturday. It showed that 96,343 babies were born in NSW that year - 12 per cent more than the 85,262 born in 2004.

7 Mar 2011

UN Women Executive Director marks International Women's Day with a message

A hundred years ago today, women across the world took an historic step on the long road to equality. The first ever International Women's Day was called to draw attention to the unacceptable and often dangerous working conditions that so many women faced worldwide.

7 Mar 2011

Inovio initiates VGX-3100 Phase II trial in patients with cervical cancer

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leader in the development of therapeutic and preventive vaccines against cancers and infectious diseases, announced today that it is initiating a Phase II clinical trial for its VGX-3100 DNA vaccine for cervical dysplasia and cancer caused by human papillomavirus.

7 Mar 2011

Warwick begins research, training program to reduce pregnant mother, baby death rates in Malawi

Warwick Medical School has just begun a -2.6 million three year research and training programme to train Malawian clinical officers in a bid to reduce the country's high death rate for pregnant mothers and babies.

3 Mar 2011

Britain to cut foreign aid for 16 countries, focus more on family planning, safe water, maternal mortality

British Secretary of State for International Development Andrew Mitchell on Tuesday announced major changes to the nation's international aid program based on a nine-month review of the agency's policies, Reuters reports.

3 Mar 2011

Research reveals men attend childbirth classes only for partner's sake

Although their involvement is very different, childbirth is an important shared experience for the first-time father and his partner, yet men generally attend childbirth classes only for their partner's sake, reveals research from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

22 Feb 2011

Girls Decide: Putting girls' sexual and reproductive health at the heart of development

There is a growing global consensus that girls are central to global development. Yet issues relating to girls’ sexuality and their sexual and reproductive rights continue to be largely neglected. Girls Decide, a new initiative from the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), highlights the importance of girls’ and young women’s sexual and reproductive lives for both individual and global development, and aims to ensure governments around the world to adopt policies that work for girls.

15 Feb 2011

CVT more common than previously thought, disproportionally affects pregnant women

A rare and often underreported form of stroke that involves veins instead of arteries is more common than previously thought, according to the American Heart Association's first scientific statement on diagnosing and managing cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT).

4 Feb 2011

Miracle baby after radical new procedure for uterine fibroids

Amy Cordle is the first woman in Australia to become a mother after undergoing a radical new procedure. On Australia Day, the 31-year-old Albert Park woman’s little “miracle” arrived when daughter Neroli was born.

3 Feb 2011

Guardian online series explores global health worker issues

The Guardian reports, as part of an online feature about health care workforces worldwide done in association with the Global Health Workforce Alliance (GHWA), that "Africa is desperately short of doctors and nurses. So is much of Asia. In 57 countries, the situation is deemed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to be at crisis point ... But in contrast to some other developing world problems, this is an issue that really does affect all of us. The world needs an estimated 4.2 million more health workers."

19 Jan 2011

Close pregnancies increase autism risk: Study

According to a new study published in the February issue of Paediatrics, children born within one year of an older sibling may be three times more likely to be diagnosed with autism.

10 Jan 2011