Childbirth News and Research

Latest Childbirth News and Research

First Edition: October 3, 2011

Today's headlines include stories previewing how health policy issues will fit into the Supreme Court's new term.

3 Oct 2011

NGOs, government face challenges in preventing fistula in DRC

Inter Press Service examines the challenges that non-governmental organizations and the government face in trying to prevent fistula among women in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where an estimated 12,000 cases are recorded annually because of sexual violence, early marriage and complications in childbirth, according to the Ministry of Public Health. Poverty, early pregnancy and marriage, sexual violence, and a lack of education and knowledge about the condition contribute to its prevalence, IPS reports.

30 Sep 2011

Gender discrimination a driving factor behind malnutrition in Nepal, experts say

"Gender discrimination lies behind much of the malnutrition found in under-five children in Nepal, say locals and experts," IRIN reports. "Women live hard lives from day one, born with no fanfare, contrasting starkly to the six-day celebration to mark the birth of a boy.

23 Sep 2011

Ambrx, Bristol-Myers Squibb collaborate for novel biologics to treat heart failure and diabetes

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and Ambrx, Inc. today announced a collaboration under which Bristol-Myers Squibb will receive exclusive worldwide rights to research, develop and commercialize biologics based on Ambrx's research surrounding the Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 protein, for potential use in treating type 2 diabetes, and the Relaxin hormone, for potential use in treating heart failure.

23 Sep 2011

Study: Fear of childbirth affects obstetric outcomes and increases elective C-sections

A new study published in the international journal Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica (AOGS) reveals that fear of childbirth is a predisposing factor for emergency and elective cesarean sections, even after psychological counseling. This may mean a negative experience that lasts a lifetime among the approximately 3% of women who in this study were estimated to suffer from excessive fear of childbirth.

22 Sep 2011

Addressing the exclusion of mental health from the MDGs

PRI's "The World" highlights the state of mental health care in Uganda in an examination of how the exclusion of mental health from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) has, according to some advocates, held back mental health as a global health issue. Julius Kayiira, director of Mental Health Uganda, an organization that provides social support, job training and care to people with mental illness, "says organizations like his face an enormous funding gap, and he blames that gap, in part, on the United Nations," according to "The World."

22 Sep 2011

U.N. calls for advancement on goal to save women and children; poorest countries, drug company contribute to fight

Speaking at a high-level meeting at U.N. headquarters on Tuesday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, while lauding the progress made under the Every Woman Every Child initiative since its launch one year ago, noted that millions of women and children "are still dying needless deaths and called for advancing the goal of saving 16 million lives by 2015," the U.N. News Centre reports.

22 Sep 2011

Fear of childbirth increases likelihood of C-section

21 Sep 2011

Three reports evaluate global progress to meet MDGs 4 and 5

Three recent reports -- a one-year assessment released by the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health of the WHO on Tuesday, an analysis by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington published on Tuesday in the Lancet, and a Save the Children report released on Monday entitled "No Child out of Reach" -- examine the progress of the global campaign to save mothers and children under five in developing nations and evaluate whether Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5, reducing child mortality by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015 and maternal deaths by three-quarters over the same period, can be met.

21 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

Increase in hospital births helps lower neonatal mortality rate in China, study says

A campaign that began in 2000 encouraging women in China to give birth in hospitals instead of at home helped cut the nation's neonatal mortality rate by 62 percent between 1996 and 2008, according to a study by researchers from Peking University and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, BBC News reports.

17 Sep 2011

Funding for international family planning programs critical for reproductive health efforts

In an opinion piece in Population Service International's "Impact" magazine, Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) writes, "Unfortunately, the Republican majority in the House of Representatives has empowered extremists with zeal for both broad, haphazard budget cuts and a commitment to rolling back women's health rights,"

17 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

Number of breast, cervical cancer cases rose significantly over past 30 years, global study says

"The number of cases and deaths from breast and cervical cancer is rising in most countries across the world, especially in poorer nations where more women are dying at younger ages, according to a global study of the diseases" by researchers from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, Reuters reports.

16 Sep 2011

U.N. report highlights innovations aimed at improving maternal and child health

PBS NewsHour's blog "The Rundown" examines a "report from the U.N.'s Every Woman, Every Child Innovation Working Group, out in the Lancet Monday, which looks at some of the promising and innovative projects" aimed at improving maternal and child health

14 Sep 2011

Tips for choosing a childbirth education class

A recent report from the World Health Organization set off alarm bells for many expectant parents. The report showed that newborns in 40 countries, including Cuba, South Korea and Poland, have a lower risk of death than newborns in the United States.

13 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

New guidelines for the treatment of acromegaly, a serious growth hormone disorder

It’s said a lot can happen in seven days. In seven years, a lot has happened in the understanding of acromegaly, a debilitating condition that causes a patient to have too much growth hormone. It’s seven years since the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists last produced guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of acromegaly. Their 2004 guidelines were just 13 pages long. Their latest, the 2011 guidelines, have grown – to 44 pages.

31 Aug 2011

Money alone cannot fix Russia's 'demographic crisis'

Russia "is in a demographic crisis, shedding 2.2 million people (or 1.6 percent of the population) since 2002, and the government is trying to encourage more women to bring Russian citizens into the world," journalist Natalia Antonova writes in a Foreign Policy opinion piece, in which she describes her experience with the Russian medical system after "unexpectedly" becoming pregnant shortly after receiving her visa to work in Moscow.

29 Aug 2011

Plants stop lethal bleedings after birth in Tanzanian women

Researchers at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, have examined a number of plants which are used for illegal abortions in Tanzania. The lab tests show that several of the plants can make the uterus tissue contract and that the plants therefore can be used to stop lethal bleedings after birth. This new knowledge is now to be conveyed in rural Tanzania where access to medicine often is difficult.

26 Aug 2011

Childbirth News and Research

Latest Childbirth News and Research

First Edition: October 3, 2011

NGOs, government face challenges in preventing fistula in DRC

Gender discrimination a driving factor behind malnutrition in Nepal, experts say

Ambrx, Bristol-Myers Squibb collaborate for novel biologics to treat heart failure and diabetes

Study: Fear of childbirth affects obstetric outcomes and increases elective C-sections

Addressing the exclusion of mental health from the MDGs

U.N. calls for advancement on goal to save women and children; poorest countries, drug company contribute to fight

Fear of childbirth increases likelihood of C-section

Three reports evaluate global progress to meet MDGs 4 and 5

Financial and political commitments to improve health of women and children

Increase in hospital births helps lower neonatal mortality rate in China, study says

Funding for international family planning programs critical for reproductive health efforts

Midwife shortages across UK

Number of breast, cervical cancer cases rose significantly over past 30 years, global study says

U.N. report highlights innovations aimed at improving maternal and child health

Tips for choosing a childbirth education class

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

New guidelines for the treatment of acromegaly, a serious growth hormone disorder

Money alone cannot fix Russia's 'demographic crisis'

Plants stop lethal bleedings after birth in Tanzanian women

Advancing Menopause Care: Non-Hormonal Treatments for Vasomotor Symptoms

Building quality into drug development for safer, faster medicines

How Pulp Fixin Is Turning Paper into High-Performance Sustainable Labware

Childbirth News and Research

Latest Childbirth News and Research

Advancing Menopause Care: Non-Hormonal Treatments for Vasomotor Symptoms

Building quality into drug development for safer, faster medicines

How Pulp Fixin Is Turning Paper into High-Performance Sustainable Labware

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