Contributor Posts

There is a dearth of mental health screening tools validated for use in low-resource settings among pregnant women, specifically in Africa. To address this research gap, a study recently published in PLOS ONE by Heyningen et al. examined the reliability…

The term perinatal mental health is generally used to refer to the mental health of women during pregnancy and in the postpartum period, but paternal perinatal mental health may also have a large impact on the health and wellbeing of mothers and…

In January 2018, the Network for Midwifery Centers held an International Best Practices Meeting in Mexico City bringing together stakeholders from the World Health Organization, the Pan-American Health Organization, United Nations Population Fund, the…

This year, International Day for Maternal Health and Rights fell three weeks after a Kenyan woman was awarded 25,000 USD in compensation by a court in Bungoma, Kenya for the disrespect and abuse she suffered during childbirth in 2013. This is a landmark…

Developing effective strategies to prevent excessive weight gain in women of childbearing age before, during and after pregnancy is critical to preventing obesity-related maternal and newborn health complications...read more

World Water Day is an opportunity to reflect on the availability—or lack—of clean water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities in places providing maternal health care around the world. A 2015 World Health Organization rapid assessment of WASH…

High quality maternal health care requires a health workforce and health systems that adequately respond to local needs and can meet emerging challenges, such as those at the intersection of maternal health and noncommunicable diseases. Guyana’s health…

The latest National Family Health Survey revealed that only about a third of women in Maharashtra, a high-income and highly urbanized state in India, accessed full antenatal care—but culturally relevant community events have immense potential in…

A recent study conducted in Ethiopia found that relatively simple and low-cost interventions could help manage gestational diabetes for many women—but there were different outcomes among women living with HIV and those without the condition...read more

Evidence suggests that gestational diabetes is highly treatable and, since it is associated with other conditions, there may be opportunities for integrated treatment approaches. Researchers recently carried out a study assessing the prevalence of…