Johns Hopkins University and University of Manitoba Faculty Awarded Grant to Study Prelacteals’ Impact on Neonatal Microbiome

Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health Bangladesh HNN Team

This article was originally published on Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health’s website here. In many countries, ritual foods, such as honey and animal milk, are commonly given to newborns before they are first breastfed or early in life. These foods, called prelacteals, may undermine the benefits newborns would otherwise receive from exclusive … Continued

In Peru, Baby Formula Reps Target Doctors In Low-Income Community Despite Decades-Old Ban

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Peru HNN Team

This article was originally posted on the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health website here. Study suggests new mothers in Lima’s Villa El Salvador are 10 times more likely to abandon exclusively breastfeeding if doctor recommends formula. A new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health suggests that baby formula … Continued

Kenya’s first human milk bank finally ready to save babies’ lives

Daily Nation Kenya, South Africa, Brazil HNN Team

Had Alice Onyango given birth at another time, things would have been different. She would have had to express milk from her aching engorged breasts – the milk that her preterm baby had no energy to suckle – and pour it down the drain. But the mother of three gave birth last week at Pumwani … 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

WHO-recommended newborn care cuts life-threatening infections by two thirds: study

XinhuaNet Vietnam HNN Team

MANILA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) — Hospitals can now reduce life-threatening infections in newborns by over two thirds and admissions to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) by one third by implementing Early Essential Newborn Care (EENC), a newborn care recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). A study in Vietnam by the WHO published in … Continued

WHO lays out recommendations to save newborns

The Week HNN Team

According to a recent report released by WHO titled Survive and thrive: transforming care for every small and sick newborn, it is crucial for the world to transform care for every newborn baby, in order to achieve the global target of health for all. Reducing neonatal mortality to 12 per 1,000 live births and under-five … Continued

Ebola in Congo now infecting newborn babies, UN says

Associated Press Congo HNN Team

LONDON (AP) — The World Health Organization says a worrying number of the newest Ebola cases amid Congo’s ongoing outbreak are in patients not usually known to catch the disease: babies. In an update published this week, the U.N. health agency reported 36 new confirmed cases of Ebola, including seven in newborn babies and infants … Continued

Namibia: 208 Babies Die At Oshakati

All Africa HNN Team

Forty-eight hours – that is how long most newborn babies survive at the Oshakati State Hospital in the Oshana region. At least 150 premature babies out of more than 1 000 who are either admitted or born at the Oshakati State Hospital yearly do not survive. This year alone, the hospital recorded 208 neonatal deaths … Continued