http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. More and more newborn babies are dying annually despite greater knowledge about what kills them, and cheap and simple measures to save them, a global conference in Johannesburg heard Monday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-experts-ramped-action-newborn.html Health Mon, 15 Apr 2013 17:00:01 EST news285262174 In vitro fertilization (IVF) is associated with an increased risk of pulmonary embolism (blockage of the main artery of the lung) and venous thromboembolism (blood clots) during the first trimester of pregnancy, a study published today on BMJ website suggests. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-blood-clots-artery-blockage-ivf.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:30:01 EST news277470551 Philippine legislators passed a landmark bill Monday that would provide government funding for contraceptives and sexuality classes in schools despite strong opposition by the dominant Roman Catholic Church and its followers, some of whom threatened to ask the Supreme Court to block the legislation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-philippines-divisive-contraceptives-law.html Health Mon, 17 Dec 2012 09:04:45 EST news274957479 A collaborative study conducted in Mexico by researchers of the University of West Virginia-Charleston (USA), Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla (Mexico), Universidad de Chile and the Institute of Molecular Epidemiology of the Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción (Chile), revealed that IPAS-Mexico overestimated rates of maternal and abortion mortality up to 35% over the last two decades. The research, recently published in the International Journal of Women's Health highlights that Mexico shows a 82.7% reduction in maternal mortality between 1957 and 2010, from 216.6 to 37.5 deaths per 100,000 live births; for the period between 1990 and 2010, there was a 30.6% decrease in maternal mortality. "These results directly contradict the figures recently reported by researchers from the IPAS-Mexico, who not only fail to detect a significant progress in maternal health since 1990, but also substantially overestimated maternal mortality rates in Mexico" said Elard Koch, the Chilean epidemiologist that led the research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-overestimation-abortion-deaths-mexico-hinders.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Thu, 06 Dec 2012 09:00:09 EST news274002446 A collaborative study conducted in Mexico by researchers from the West Virginia University-Charleston (US), Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla (México), Universidad de Chile and the Institute of Molecular Epidemiology of the Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción (Chile), revealed that opinion surveys used by researchers from the Guttmacher Institute overestimated figures of induced abortion in the Federal District of Mexico (Mexico DF) up to 10-fold. The research recently published in the International Journal of Women's Health highlights that the actual figure of induced abortion in Mexico DF has not surpassed 15,000 per year according to the official registry. "During 2009, the number of induced abortions in Mexico DF was 12,221, which directly contradicts the figure of 122,355 induced abortions estimated by opinion surveys for the same year, resulting in a 1000% overestimation" pointed out Elard Koch, the Chilean epidemiologist leading the research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-mexican-paradox-opinion-surveys-overestimate.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Thu, 06 Dec 2012 09:00:01 EST news274002837 In low-and-middle income countries, pregnancy-related infections are a major cause of maternal death, can also be fatal to unborn and newborn babies, and are mostly caused by four types of conditions that are treatable and preventable, according to a review by US researchers published in this week's PLOS Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-pregnancy-related-infections-treatable-conditions.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 09 Oct 2012 17:01:22 EST news269020846 Every 90 seconds, a mother dies in pregnancy or of childbirth complications—a tragic statistic, but one that may drive efforts to improve health care in developing countries, experts gathered at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) said Friday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-mothers-peril-urgency-frustration-discussion.html Health Wed, 03 Oct 2012 07:22:56 EST news268467761 Could a low-cost screening device connected to a cell phone save thousands of women and children from anemia-related deaths and disabilities? http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-undergrads-cell-screener-combat-anemia.html Medical research Tue, 24 Jul 2012 15:52:04 EST news262363911 Contraceptive use saves the lives of more than a quarter of million women each year, either from death in childbirth or unsafe abortions, according to estimates published on Tuesday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-contraception-year.html Health Tue, 10 Jul 2012 05:30:06 EST news261116289 While HIV programs provide lifesaving care and treatment to millions of people in lower-income countries, there have been concerns that as these programs expand, they divert investments from other health priorities such as maternal health. Researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health assessed the effect of HIV programs supported by the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) on access to maternal health care in sub-Saharan Africa for women who are not infected with HIV. The findings show that, in fact, PEPFAR-funded, HIV-related projects were linked to more deliveries in health facilities. Encouraging more women to deliver in a health facility is essential to reduce maternal and newborn mortality globally. The study is published in the July edition of the journal Health Affairs, a theme issue about the impact of PEPFAR. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-pepfar-hivaids-linked-uptick-babies.html HIV & AIDS Mon, 09 Jul 2012 16:00:13 EST news261066226 British charity Save the Children on Wednesday said it was a "global scandal" that 50,000 teenagers die each year due to pregnancy and childbirth complications. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-teenage-pregnancy-deaths-global-scandal.html Pediatrics Wed, 27 Jun 2012 03:15:26 EST news259985721 Since 1990, annual maternal deaths have declined by almost one half and the deaths of young children have declined from 12 million to 7.6 million in 2010. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-maternal-child-deaths-women-children.html Health Wed, 13 Jun 2012 04:21:25 EST news258780077 Better care has cut the number of women dying in pregnancy and childbirth by nearly half in the past two decades, but there is still a death every two minutes, according to UN figures released Wednesday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-maternal-deaths.html Health Wed, 16 May 2012 05:30:01 EST news256364124 A newly published article in the journal Nursing for Women's Health highlights the importance of a woman's ability to time her childbearing. The author asserts that contraception is a means of health promotion and women who work with their health care providers to ensure they are healthy prior to conceiving can minimize their risk of complications during pregnancy and childbirth. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-pregnancy-important-health-women.html Health Wed, 11 Apr 2012 11:46:12 EST news253363561 Post-partum haemorrhage (PPH; excessive bleeding) immediately after giving birth is a major killer of women in developing countries, responsible for a third of maternal deaths in Africa and Asia. Results of an international trial published Online First in The Lancet are the first to show that omitting controlled cord traction has little effect on the risk of severe bleeding, indicating that effective prevention of PPH could be accomplished with just a uterotonic agent (e.g. oxytocin). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-approach-post-birth-safe-effective.html Health Mon, 05 Mar 2012 18:30:02 EST news250174567 A long-term fall in the global abortion rate has tapered off and the number of unsafe pregnancy terminations is rising worryingly, according to a report published by The Lancet on Thursday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-back-street-abortions-global.html Health Thu, 19 Jan 2012 04:18:23 EST news246169090 A large regional hospital in Ghana saw a reduction in maternal and infant deaths after continuous quality improvement (QI) initiatives were put into place through a collaborative partnership. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-quality-moms-babies-africa.html Health Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:16:01 EST news246125755 (Medical Xpress) -- Unusual features of the human placenta may be the underlying cause of postpartum hemorrhage, the leading cause of maternal deaths during childbirth, according to evolutionary research at the University of Illinois at Chicago. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-evolution-clues-death-childbirth.html Medical research Wed, 02 Nov 2011 07:09:55 EST news239436575 A global campaign to save new mothers and children under five in developing nations has made strong gains but is set to fall well shy of UN goals, according to a study released Tuesday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-mothers-children-fall-short.html Health Tue, 20 Sep 2011 04:58:28 EST news235713494