One woman and six newborns die every two hours from complications during pregnancy or childbirth in Yemen
This article was originally published on the UNICEF website here. One woman and six newborns die every two hours in Yemen from complications during pregnancy or childbirth, UNICEF said in the first of a series of short snapshots on maternal and newborn health in Yemen. “Bringing life into the world in Yemen can all too … Continued
‘Catastrophic’ healthcare costs put mothers and newborns at risk
This article was originally featured in the UN News here. In a new report highlighting how few of the world’s poorest pregnant women have a doctor, nurse or midwife at their side when they need them most, the UN Children’s Fund said that more than 800 women die every day from complications, while many more … Continued
Secrets of early life revealed from less than half a teaspoon of blood
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?
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
In world’s worst humanitarian crisis, the miracle of a safe birth
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
500 years after Leonardo da Vinci wondered why babies are born preterm, we still have no idea
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
Nigeria’s ‘Flying Midwives’ Are Helping Save Moms and Babies
By Aryn Baker | Photographs by Lynsey Addario for TIME February 7, 2019 In the small, whitewashed medical clinic of Banki, one of northeastern Nigeria’s largest camps for internally displaced people (IDP), midwife Stella Aneto takes a rare pause between deliveries to catch her breath. Before wiping down the clinic’s sole delivery bed with disinfectant, Aneto glances at the clinic … Continued
India Readies A New Cadre Of Certified Midwives To Improve Maternal, Infant Care
Karimnagar (Telangana) and Delhi: “As a nurse, we used to refer to mothers as patients. The first thing we learned as a midwife was to treat them as mothers and not patients,” said Jyothirmayee Akkaladevi, 35, as she rattled off a list of everything she had to unlearn to train as a midwife. Akkaladevi is … Continued
To avoid stillbirths, women in Kenya bribe overworked doctors
Nairobi, Kenya – After Anne Khasakalla suffered two stillbirths in 2014 and 2015, she looked for a solution that would provide her with better healthcare. Friends told her that pregnant women in Kenya have to pay bribes to doctors and nurses to escape long queues of mothers waiting to deliver their babies. “During my first … Continued
Executive Board designates 2020 as the “Year of the Nurse and Midwife”
30 January 2019, Geneva – The Executive Board, today, designated the year 2020 as the “Year of the Nurse and midwife”, in honor of the 200th birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale. This proposal will now be presented to Member States of the 72nd World Health Assembly for consideration and endorsement. The year 2020 is significant … Continued