C-Sections Have Nearly Doubled Since 2000. That Isn’t Necessarily A Good Thing

TIME HNN Team

Nearly twice as many babies were born via caesarean sections (C-sections) in 2015 as in 2000, a new report says. Almost 30 million C-sections were performed globally in 2015, accounting for 21% of all live births, according to World Health Organization and UNICEF data published Thursday in the Lancet. In 2000, 16 million babies were … Continued

How Natural Birth Became Inaccessible to the Poor

Sapiens Mexico HNN Team

Pilar* gave birth in a private, “humanized” hospital in Mexico City that takes a holistic approach to health and combines world-class medicine with the comforts of a five-star hotel. The exterior walls of the hospital are covered with ivy, the floors are marble, and soothing tunes from a piano often echo in the multilevel foyer. … 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

How an ‘Uber for pregnant women’ is saving lives in Tanzania

Mashable Tanzania, United Republic of HNN Team

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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

Unnecessary C-sections done in Bangladesh, says Save the Children director Ishtiaq Mannan

bdnews24 Bangladesh HNN Team

“This is a life-saving procedure. So too many caesarian deliveries are as dangerous as too few,” Dr Ishtiaq Mannan, director of the Save the Children’s health, nutrition and HIV/AIDS wing, said at an orientation programme for journalists on Sunday. Citing the 2014 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS), he said 23 percent of facility deliveries … Continued

‘Sometimes the baby dies, sometimes the mother’: Life and death in Yemen’s hospitals

Washington Post Yemen HNN Team

The infant was barely breathing when his uncle brought him to the hospital in a cardboard box. He was wrapped in a blue towel, and wads of cotton were stuffed around his frail body to keep him warm. Muhammad Haithem was just hours old, born two months premature.His mother had gone into labor when an … 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.

The Women of Rural Zambia Walk Miles to Give Birth

Vice Zambia HNN Team

“I had to use a blanket to cover myself and the whole time I was worried an animal would come and take my baby.” Hariane hadn’t heard the expression “Life is about the journey, not the destination.” To this modest young mother living in rural Zambia, her life, and that of her newborn daughter, was very … Continued

Nigeria gets action plan to cater for sick newborns

The Guardian Nigeria HNN Team

The Federal Government has launched three new policy documents to tackle health of newborns. They are Nigeria Every Newborn Action Plan, Essential Newborn Care Course (ENCC) training package and National Chlorhexidine Scale Up Strategy document. The action plan is to serve as a roadmap that focuses on packages of interventions that address care during labour, … Continued