India riskiest place on earth for the newborn
India is the riskiest place for a newborn, with almost 28 per cent of the world’s neonatal deaths within four weeks of birth-occurring in the country.
Too many children dying
South Africa
Michael McCusker
About 82000 children under the age of five died while in the care of nurses and doctors in public hospitals in the past three years. This shocking figure was revealed by Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi in Parliament this week.
Maternal and infant mortality, morbidity unacceptably high
Uganda
Michael McCusker
Maternal and infant mortality and morbidity is still unacceptably high in Uganda. Although there has been a modest decline from a maternal mortality ratio of 505 to 435 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, this is still far from the target for MDG 5.
Higher Mortality for Infants
The absolute incidence of neonatal mortality and morbidity in late pre-term infants (i.e., born before the end of 37 weeks) is low, but it’s still significantly higher than in full-term infants, say the authors of the review.
Neonatal Mortality Rate falls sharply in state
India
Michael McCusker
Containment of neonatal mortality has given a boost to Orissa’s struggle to shed the ignominy of being the highest infant mortality rate (IMR) state in the country.
Govt working to address gaps in New Zealand’s maternity services
A report by the Perinatal and Maternal Mortality Review Committee released on Thursday says there were 98 potentially avoidable deaths of unborn and newborn babies in 2009.
Uganda Declared Tetanus Free
Uganda
Michael McCusker
The World Health Organisation yesterday declared Uganda one of the 20 countries that have eliminated maternal and neonatal tetanus disease.
Increase in multiple births continued last year
In a report published today, it said that there were 4,036 births last year, down from 4,180 in the previous year. Of these, 4,018 (99.6%) were live births while 18 were stillbirths. In 2009 there were 4,180 births including 4,152 live (99.3%) births.
‘The grief is all engulfing’: Each day in Britain, 17 babies are stillborn – why is the toll so high?
Britain has one of the very worst incidences of stillbirths of all developed countries. Ranking 32nd out of 35 countries, with a rate of 3.5 deaths per 1,000 births.
Global reductions in newborn and maternal deaths remain low
While substantial progress has been made, deaths of millions of children and mothers during childbirth have been largely overlooked.