To avoid stillbirths, women in Kenya bribe overworked doctors

Al Jazeera Kenya HNN Team

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

Malawi: Time for Action to Ensure All Hospitals, Everywhere Have Water

WaterAid Malawi HNN Team

During countless visits to maternity wards without safe water, what I hear time and time again are stories of trepidation – women who fear the very worst outcome for them and their newborn. Vitumbiko, 25, had heard stories about women dying during childbirth at her local health centre. She didn’t tell anyone how worried she … Continued

Newborns’ lives at risk in Nakuru as TB jab gets scarce

Standard Media Kenya HNN Team

Newborns are at risk of contracting Tuberculosis (TB) due to lack of vaccines. The county has been facing a shortage of Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccines for the past one month. Private hospitals have not been spared because the vaccines are supplied by the national government, through the National Vaccination Programme (NVP). “Newborn babies are at … Continued

In Nigeria, Faith in Health Care is Saving Lives

Nigeria HNN Team

In Nigeria, MCSP is improving maternal and child health by removing the obstacles that threaten access to high-quality services. At 321 facilities across two states, we’re helping providers – in training or already working – to prevent needless deaths by translating new and improved knowledge & skills into practice. A close ally in this fight … Continued

Guinea: 500 newborns die every week – Official

Journal du Cameroun Guinea HNN Team

Five hundred newborns die every week in Guinea, mainly because of the lack of qualified midwives in the country’s maternity hospitals, Ben Youssouf Keita, president of the National Assembly’s Health and Sport Commission said on Monday in Conakry.”In the context of neonatology, official statistics have shown that 500 babies die every week in Guinea. That’s … Continued

‘Miracle’ six-day-old baby survives Ebola

BBC News Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, South Sudan HNN Team

A baby girl who was diagnosed with Ebola when she was only six days old has survived, health officials in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have confirmed. Baby Benedicte’s mother was infected with Ebola and died during childbirth. Benedicte showed symptoms only days later and it has taken five weeks of round-the-clock treatment to … Continued

Exploring ways to reduce child deaths in low-income countries

EurekAlert; Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) Mozambique HNN Team

In Mozambique, the probability of dying in the first month after hospital discharge is high, particularly for babies under three months of age, shows a study led by the Barcelona Institute of Global Health (ISGlobal), an institution supported by “la Caixa” Foundation, in collaboration with the Manhiça Health Research Center (CISM). The study also shows … Continued

Poor quality of care still an issue in addressing newborns mortality

IPP Media Tanzania, United Republic of HNN Team

Countries with higher rates of child mortality and morbidity are especially challenged, including Tanzania. A senior official of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Bernadette Daelmans, made the call on the sidelines of the 2018 Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH) Forum being held in New Delhi, India. Dr. Bernadette Daelmans was speaking … Continued

Series 2, episode 1- In Ebonyi and Kogi states, health workers learn quality improvement skills on top of clinical skills, and are improving quality of care on the day of birth

Quality Talks Nigeria HNN Team

Over 90 health facilities in the Eboni and Kogi states of Nigeria have joined a quality improvement initiative to improve the quality of care for women and newborn on the day of birth. In just two years, they have seen massive improvement in some of the key clinical practices such as managing post-partum haemorrhage, resuscitating … Continued

Ebola in Congo now infecting newborn babies, UN says

Associated Press Congo HNN Team

LONDON (AP) — The World Health Organization says a worrying number of the newest Ebola cases amid Congo’s ongoing outbreak are in patients not usually known to catch the disease: babies. In an update published this week, the U.N. health agency reported 36 new confirmed cases of Ebola, including seven in newborn babies and infants … Continued