Survival in conflict settings: NewbornNews May 2011

From the Blog:

Survival of women and newborns in crisis: What can be done for mothers and their newborns in emergency settings?

Empowering communitites to save newborn lives: At a TedXChange talk in Delhi, Dr. Vishwajeet Kumar shares how they made a fundamental shift in their approach to save newborn lives in Shivgarh, India.   

Using mHealth to reduce mortality in Bangladeshi villages: Empowering young health workers to use technology and connect their community to doctors.

Multimedia:

Photo Gallery - Afghanistan: The toughest place to be a mother: The 2011 Mothers Index reveals Afghanistan as the worst place to be a mom.

Video - Birthrights: The mountain midwives of Vietnam: Infant and maternal mortality rates in the mountainous regions of northern Vietnam are 10 times higher than the national average.

Photo Gallery - Empowering communities, saving lives: An inspiring visit to India alongside Dr. Abhay Bang.

Selected reviews from BMC Public Health Supplement: Technical inputs, enhancements and applications of the Lives Saved Tool (LiST). View this month's Research Round Up to read the abstracts of the articles below. 

Care during labor and birth for the prevention of intrapartum-related neonatal deaths: a systematic review and Delphi estimation of mortality effect. ACC Lee, S Cousens, GL Darmstadt, et al. 

Clean birth and postnatal care practices to reduce neonatal deaths from sepsis and tetanus: a systematic review and Delphi estimation of mortality effect. H Blencowe, S Cousens, LC Mullany, et al. 

Effect of case management on neonatal mortality due to sepsis and pneumonia.  AKM Zaidi, HA Ganatra, S Syed, et al.

Effectiveness of interventions to screen and manage infections during pregnancy on reducing stillbirths: a review. S Ishaque, MY Yakoob, A Imdad, et al.

Lives Saved Tool supplement detection and treatment of syphilis in pregnancy to reduce syphilis related stillbirths and neonatal mortality.  H Blencowe, S Cousens, M Kamb, et al.

Neonatal resuscitation and immediate newborn assessment and stimulation for the prevention of neonatal deaths: a systematic review, meta-analysis and Delphi estimation of mortality effect. CC Lee, S Cousens, SN Wall, et al.

The effect of providing skilled birth attendance and emergency obstetric care in preventing stillbirths. MY Yakoob, MA Ali, MU Ali, et al.

Research Round-Up: May 2011

Attitudes to routine HIV counselling and testing, and knowledge about prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV in eastern Uganda: a cross-sectional survey among antenatal attendees. R Byamugisha, JK Tumwine, G Ndeezi, et al. Journal of the International AIDS Society 2010, 13:52.

Cost-effectiveness of Essential Newborn Care Training in Urban First-Level Facilities.* A Manasyan, E Chomba, EM McClure, et al. Pediatrics, 2011; peds.2010-2158.

Determinants of tetanus and sepsis among the last neonatal deaths at household level in a peri-urban area of India.* R Ghosh, AK Sharma. Postgraduate Medical Journal, 2011 Apr;87(1026):257-63.

HIV exposure and related newborn morbidity and mortality in the University Teaching Hospital of Yaoundé, Cameroon. M Francisca, E Nga-Essono Dorothee, ZK Bissek, et al.The Pan African Medical Journal, 2011;8:43.

Intrapartum-Related Stillbirths and Neonatal Deaths in Rural Bangladesh: A Prospective, Community-Based Cohort Study.* M Ellis, K Azad, B Banerjee, et al. Pediatrics, Vol. 127 No. 5 May 1, 2011.

Perinatal Mortality in Eastern Uganda: A Community Based Prospective Cohort Study. V Nankabirwa, JK Tumwine, T Tylleskär, et al. PLoS ONE, 6(5): e19674.

Risk factors for perinatal deaths in Pakistan.* F Perveen, S Tayyab, BF Zuberi. Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Research, 37: no, May 2011.

Strategic Challenges of PMTCT Program Implementation in Ethiopia.* TT Balcha, SS Lecerof, AR Jeppsson. Journal of the International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care, April 2011. 

Trends and inequities in where women delivered their babies in 25 low-income countries: evidence from Demographic and Health Surveys.* S Limwattananona, V Tangcharoensathienb, S Sirilak. Reproductive Health Matters, V19:I 37, May 2011.

Triple-Antiretroviral Prophylaxis to Prevent Mother-To-Child HIV Transmission through Breastfeeding—The Kisumu Breastfeeding Study, Kenya: A Clinical Trial. TK Thomas, R Masaba, CB Borkowf, et al. PLoS Medicine, 8(3): e1001015.

*Journal subscription required for full access

What's new in newborn health

Resource - Good Practice Guide: Community mobilisation through women's groups to improve the health of mothers and babies: Lessons learned from India and Bangladesh.

Resource - World Health Statistics 2011: WHO’s annual compilation of health-related data for its 193 Member States, including a summary of progress towards MDGs.

Resource - Increasing Access to Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission Services:USAID's report covers each step of the PMTCT continuum, outlines services recommended at each stage, describes major barriers, and lists country-based approaches that programs have taken to address them

News - The main causes of maternal death in Nigeria can be avoided: UK's The Guardian explores childbirth care in Nigeria. 

News - Delivering safe childbirth in Afghanistan:the country's tragic record on childbirth triggered international support for a government initiative to train new midwives in remote rural areas.