Reproduction

Countries in Africa should promote maternal, infant and child health and report on progress, in order to curb high death rates on the continent, according to the African Union. There are continents where women give birth and it is a pleasant experience because they are bringing life, said AU Commissioner for Social Affairs Bience Gawana. In our continent, unfortunately, that is not always the case. Women also bring death to themselves and their children. Progress on the promotion of maternal, infant and child health featured during the 12th African Union Heads of State and Government Summit, which ended on Wednesday. Ms Gawana said the AU had agreed to launch a continent-wide campaign to address the issue.

mothers2mothers (m2m) is a peer support program that aims to provide education and psychosocial support to HIV-positive pregnant women and new mothers, help women access existing health care services to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT), and follow up with mothers and babies to ensure they receive appropriate medical care after delivery. While there has been much interest in innovative psychosocial support programs that complement PMTCT clinical services, only a few such programs exist, and there is very little data about their effectiveness. Although m2m is a well known program with anecdotal accounts of successfully supporting HIV-positive women, the program had yet to undergo an external evaluation. The Horizons Program of Population Council, in collaboration with Health Systems Trust, completed the first evaluation of m2m as part of its introduction in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa.

Explain to interested patients that premature infants are at a significant risk for severe lung disease, and that giving corticosteroids to the expectant mother has been shown to reduce the risk of lung complications in the baby.

Women who give birth by Caesarean are putting themselves and their child at risk, medical experts have warned in a new report.

Researchers from the Johns Hopkins University and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development have learned that, contrary to popular belief, mild to moderate levels of maternal psychological stress during pregnancy may actually enhance fetal maturation.

Preeclampsia, the development of high blood pressure and protein in the urine during pregnancy and its more severe complications such as eclampsia, can threaten the lives of both mother and child. While there is no therapy to prevent preeclampsia, a link to calcium deficiency has been suggested. In a study published in the March issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, researchers across the globe, under the auspices of the World Health Organization (WHO), investigated whether a calcium supplement could reduce the complications and mortality from this condition.

The biological clock ticks for men as well as women, suggesting it is not just females who should be aware of the consequences of starting families later in life, according to research published recently.

A first-trimester screening test can reliably identify fetuses likely to be born with Down syndrome, providing expectant women with that information much earlier in a pregnancy than current testing allows, according to a major study being released today.

Deaths of mothers due to pregnancy complications have increased in Tanzania, according to an official from the Ministry of Health in the country.

Hundreds of millions of women and children have no access to potentially life-saving care with often fatal results, the World Health Organization (WHO) says in a report published today.