Archive: Jan 2018

While Jamaica has seen a slow decline in maternal deaths, “Indirect causes account for an increasing proportion of these deaths," said Lovney Kanguru, lead author of a recent population based study examining the consequences of overweight and obesity for…

Timor-Leste should be applauded for its progress in maternal health over the last decade-and-a-half, serving as an inspiring model for other low-income, post-conflict countries to follow. A substantial amount of work remains for Timor-Leste to achieve…

In a recent paper published in Maternal Health, Neonatology and Perinatology, Margo Harrison and Robert Goldenberg presented an overview of published research on immediate postpartum use of long-acting reversible contracption in low- and middle-income…

The physical environment has an enormous impact on women’s and maternal health. Climate change in particular has been linked to food insecurity and undernutrition, water scarcity, poor hygienic conditions, infectious disease outbreaks and increased…

As the world continues to undergo the “obstetric transition” from mostly direct causes of maternal mortality to more indirect causes, addressing the effects of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) on maternal health is becoming increasingly urgent. To…

Access to efficient modern energy is a critical enabler for essential maternal and newborn health care services, especially during emergencies. Yet a review of 11 countries in sub-Saharan Africa found that only 28% of health facilities and 34% of…

Katrina Anderson and Pilar Herrero address the United States' problems with maternal mortality and racial inequities from a human rights perspective...read more

An estimated 2.6 million stillbirths occur every year across the globe, but many of them are not counted, reviewed or reported. The Every Newborn Action Plan proposed a target for reducing global stillbirths during the Sustainable Development Goal period…

While the root causes of obstetric and iatrogenic fistula differ, both represent failures of the health system to provide women with timely, safe and appropriate care, and both have severe consequences...read more

The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews recently published a qualitative evidence synthesis of factors that influence the provision of intrapartum and postnatal care by skilled birth attendants in low- and middle-income countries. Meeting the needs…