Secrets of early life revealed from less than half a teaspoon of blood

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Gambia, Papua New Guinea HNN Team

A global team of scientists have mapped the developmental pathway of a newborn’s life for the first time. The research, published in Nature Communications, could transform our understanding of health and disease in babies. Co-led by the MRC Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the new study included lifting … Continued

Most Pregnancies Last 9 Months. Why Is the Deadliness of Childbirth Still Taking Us by Surprise?

Global Citizen Ethiopia, Haiti, Philippines, Liberia HNN Team

Vaccines help to dramatically reduce maternal and neonatal deaths. Article by Anuradha Gupta, Deputy CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance Measles, cholera, and diphtheria can kill quickly and without any warning. Yet with childbirth we get nine months’ notice, and it still kills more people every year than these three diseases combined. It’s not just … Continued

Kangaroo Mother Care units in Govt Hospitals give every newborn a chance at life

KnockSense India HNN Team

The launch of 101 Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) lounges took place on 6th March, at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan, Lucknow. In the past year, 69 KMC lounges were successfully established across districts in UP, taking the total tally of KMC lounges to 170. This was done under the leadership of, Prof. Rita Bahuguna Joshi (UP’s Minister … Continued

Pneumonia: how the world’s biggest killer of children became a neglected disease

Telegraph UK Ethiopia, Nepal HNN Team

When two-year old Sienna Wilson suddenly developed a fever in the middle of the night the first thing her parents, Kate and David, suspected was malaria. When the doctor arrived in the morning he agreed. He began treating her accordingly. Hours later, unconscious and in a critical condition, Sienna was airlifted to a private hospital … Continued

WHO publishes new estimates on congenital syphilis

World Health Organization HNN Team

Global decrease but cases remain high, causing 200 000 stillbirths and newborn deaths every year 27 February 2019: New estimates published today show that there were more than half a million (around 661,000) total cases of congenital syphilis in 2016, resulting in over 200,000 stillbirths and neonatal deaths. Syphilis is one of the most common … Continued

Kenya now eliminates maternal and neonatal tetanus

World Health Organization Kenya Kenya HNN Team

Kenya has attained maternal and neonatal tetanus elimination status, MNTE, following a successful WHO-led validation process in 2018 to confirm the elimination of the disease. The process was preceded by a pre-validation assessment in September 2017 done by the Ministry of Health with the support of WHO and UNICEF. Elimination of maternal and neonatal tetanus … Continued

In world’s worst humanitarian crisis, the miracle of a safe birth

UNFPA Yemen HNN Team

JARDAN, Yemen – Over a million pregnant women and new mothers require urgent aid in Yemen, the site of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Mohsina was one of these women when she went into labour at the end of a complicated and painful pregnancy. Luckily, her story had a happy – and surprise – ending. … Continued

Providing additional support to women in Burkina Faso can boost rates of exclusive breastfeeding

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Burkina Faso HNN Team

Intervention potential route to improving child health in West Africa Interventions which educate and support new mothers in West Africa to exclusively breastfeed (where infants are only fed breast milk) can significantly increase the practice, according to new research published in The Lancet Global Health. In a randomised trial of new mothers in Burkina Faso, led … Continued

Newborn Deaths in India Can Be Averted by 2030 with Stronger Health Systems

Tech2 India HNN Team

In December 2018, the Every Newborn Action Plan (ENAP) was released in India, with efforts and contributions from many stakeholders involved in maternal and child care. The plan brought alarming statistics on newborn care to the forefront. Over 30 million babies are born too soon, too small or become sick every year and need specialized … Continued

500 years after Leonardo da Vinci wondered why babies are born preterm, we still have no idea

Quartz HNN Team

In one of his texts in his Trattato della Pittura (Treatise on Painting), Leonardo da Vinci set out to understand the functioning of the human body in order to be able to draw it correctly, from the inside out. Among the aspects da Vinci wanted to understand were “[w]hat forces [the fetus] out from the … Continued