Better care, stronger laws needed to save 30 million babies on the brink of death

UN News HNN Team

Nearly 30 million babies each year – nearly a quarter of the total – are born too soon, too small or become sick, requiring specialized care to survive beyond the first month of life, according to a new report by a global coalition that includes the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organization (WHO). … Continued

Breaking The Mold For Pregnant Women in Sierra Leone

Verve Up Sierra Leone HNN Team

Leaning over the pregnant patient before her, Regina Korgbendeh touches the woman’s looming stomach and speaks softly in a Kono-dialect: “Thank you for this child.” Blessing an unborn baby is a custom strictly followed in communities throughout Kono, Sierra Leone. Once the prayer is complete, Regina, 48, leads her patient over to a chair, where … Continued

Detecting and diagnosing infection in women during and after pregnancy in Togo

Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Centre for Maternal and Newborn Health Togo HNN Team

The Centre for Maternal and Newborn Health (CMNH) has launched a new programme in Togo, which aims to better understand the causes of infection in women during and after pregnancy, and determine the usefulness of an early warning score to detect possible infection. Last month, Dr Mary McCauley, Academic Clinical Lecturer at CMNH, travelled to … Continued

Looming famine threatens the lives of 2 million pregnant women and new mothers in Yemen

UNFPA Yemen HNN Team

SANA’A, Yemen – Four years into conflict, Yemen has become home to the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. Over 22 million people are in need of immediate humanitarian assistance. Two thirds of the population do not know when their next meal will come. “Some days I cannot provide food [for my children],” said 28-year-old … Continued

Huge numbers of stillborn babies ‘may have been missed’

The Guardian HNN Team

Hundreds of thousands of deaths a year are not being recognised in international estimates, research suggests Hundreds of thousands of babies who died in the womb could have been missed out of international estimates on stillbirths, research suggests. According to figures for 2015, an estimated 2.6 million babies a year worldwide are stillborn – dying … Continued

2 million Chinese mothers carry strep bacteria that can be fatal to newborns, study finds

South China Morning Post China, India HNN Team

Nearly 2 million pregnant women in China are estimated to be carrying a strain of bacteria that can cause severe health problems or even prove fatal to newborn babies, according to an international study. The figure represents about 11 per cent of total annual births in China, and puts the country second globally in the … Continued

Patterns and Trends in the Attributable Fractions of under-5 Years Hospitalization and Inpatient Death for Neonates, Infectious Diseases, and Severe Acute Malnutrition in Yemen: A Retrospective Data Analysis

© 2017 Salem M. Banajeh; Licensee Lifescience Global Yemen

Neonatal death proportion of under-5 mortality is alarmingly high in Yemen. With the ongoing military conflict since 2015, interventions to improve neonatal survival are urgently required. I recently published an epidemiological retrospective study in Al-Sabeen Hospital for Women and Children located in Sana’a, Yemen. The study examined the patterns and trends of hospitalization and inpatient … Continued

The hospital where parents care for premature babies

BBC News HNN Team

On a hospital ward in Leeds, parents of premature babies are encouraged to help care for their newborns – from taking temperatures to the delicate task of inserting feeding tubes. So how does the approach benefit families?

Nine countries commit to halve maternal and newborn deaths in health facilities

WHO Bangladesh, India, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Tanzania, United Republic of, Uganda, Nigeria

New WHO and UNICEF-supported network to improve care for mothers and babies On February 14 of 2017, 9 countries – Bangladesh, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda – committed to halving preventable deaths of pregnant women and newborns in their health facilities within the next 5 years. Through a new Network … Continued

Local leaders’ influence helps safe child birth in rural Bangladesh

bdnews24.com Bangladesh HNN Team

The family planning wing of the Bangladesh government has adopted a policy to use local government leaders’ influence in ensuring 24/7 normal delivery services and child care at the village level facilities.