Giving birth in Guinea: a life or death lottery bereft of midwives and medicine

The Guardian Guinea HNN Team

A baby was born, took one breath, then left the world again. No amount of the midwife pumping his legs up to his ribcage and back, or poking a finger hard and fast at his chest, would bring him back. His 17-year-old mother lay in pain on the delivery table as her son was wrapped … Continued

Vietnamese neonatal nurse wins int’l award

Thanh Nien News Vietnam HNN Team

Vietnamese nurse Nguyen Thi Minh Hong has been named the winner of the International Neonatal Nursing Excellence Awards 2016 for her dedication to mothers and babies in one of Vietnam’s poorest areas over the past three decades. Hong was honored at the Ninth International Conference of International Neonatal Nurses (COINN) in Canada on August 15. She and … Continued

Strength of a Woman: Christine Maweu

Kenya Citizen TV Kenya HNN Team

Most newborn deaths are preventable, yet Kenya currently has few nurses who are specifically trained in nursing of sick newborns in health facilities. Rural areas are particularly challenged with lack of equipment and personnel, and in such areas committed and passionate professionals are key in reducing infant mortality. In Kitui district hospital, a humble nurse has … Continued

“Clinical Appeal” Creates New Appeal in Bangladesh Rural Health

bdnews24.com Bangladesh HNN Team

Not many women give birth at hospitals in Bangladesh, with only four in every 10 women delivering with the help of skilled hands. Postnatal care is also rare. But Suchitra Sutradhar is one of those few who, despite living in a remote village, gave birth at a facility and keeps coming to that centre for … Continued

Midwives Are Essential to Global Health

United States of America, Brazil, India, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Indonesia HNN Team

By Jerker Liljestrand, Senior Program Officer of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Midwives have supported women during childbirth since ancient Egyptian times, and today, in many parts of the world, they are providing a unique set of lifesaving services for mothers and babies. Midwives are trained with a … Continued

Study shows new method to test premature babies

Daily Monitor Uganda

In the absence of weighing scales, measuring the size of a baby’s foot using the foot length card and danger sign screening cards can help identify if a baby is premature or has low birth weight, a new study has shown.

Community engagement key to maternal and neonatal health – study

New Vision Uganda

Findings from a four-year study (2012-2015) conducted by Makerere School of Public Health in Eastern Uganda have revealed a significant correlation between maternal health and community participation.

UNICEF and EU save new-born lives in rural Ethiopia

UNICEF Ethiopia Ethiopia

By Efa Workineh, CBNC Project Officer, Save the Children, Ethiopia; Tadesse Bekele, Regional Programme Manager, Save the Children, Ethiopia; Hailemariam Legesse, Health Specialist, UNICEF Ethiopia;…

Can Ethiopian health extension work in Ugandan context

Ethiopia, Uganda

Can Ethiopian health extension work in Ugandan context

Taking a walk in her shoes: How a midwife exchange program improved maternal health in Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Hospital leaders and the Ethiopian Ministry of Health recognized a complicated problem in obstetric care in Addis Ababa. Primary health centers saw few patients and referred many unnecessarily to overcrowded tertiary hospitals. To help fix the problem, they created a midwife exchange program.