Childbirth News and Research

Latest Childbirth News and Research

Sling device a good shot for vaginal prolapse repair

A midurethral sling device added during surgery for vaginal prolapse repair reduces the risk for postoperative urinary incontinence, research shows.

2 Jul 2012

Health worker training programs working to improve women's health in Afghanistan

"Women in Afghanistan are 70 times more likely to die in childbirth than from a bullet or a bomb, according to Save the Children," CNN reports, adding that is "a grim statistic the women here are trying to change."

29 Jun 2012

Fetal growth in pregnancy may be affected by standing for long periods

Standing for long periods during pregnancy may curb the growth of the developing fetus, suggests research published online in Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

28 Jun 2012

Pregnancy complications are leading killer of teenage girls worldwide, Save the Children report says

Pregnancy is the biggest killer of teenage girls worldwide, with one million girls annually dying, being injured, or contracting a disease because of pregnancy or childbirth, according to a report (.pdf) released Tuesday by Save the Children, the Daily Mail reports.

28 Jun 2012

Reproductive hormone helps regulate food intake, energy metabolism without adverse effects

A reproductive hormone helps regulate food intake and energy metabolism without causing adverse effects, a new animal study finds. The results will be presented Monday at The Endocrine Society's 94th Annual Meeting in Houston.

26 Jun 2012

Stillbirth rates higher among least well off in England

The rate of stillbirths in England is twice as high among the least well off as it is among the most affluent, shows research published in the online journal BMJ Open.

26 Jun 2012

PeriGen’s patient safety campaign raises awareness about shoulder dystocia

PeriGen, Inc., the leading innovator of fetal surveillance systems, is launching a patient safety campaign designed to inform pregnant women about shoulder dystocia, a serious childbirth complication.

26 Jun 2012

Suicide leading cause of death among young people in India

Suicide has become the second-leading cause of death of young people in India, which has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, according to an Article published as part of the Lancet Series on suicide.

25 Jun 2012

Study reveals decline in number of babies born with birth defects across Europe

The number of babies born with birth defects (major congenital anomalies) across Europe has fallen over the decade (2000-2009), University of Ulster research has revealed.

23 Jun 2012

ULH hopes to help women at risk of PPD through new policy

Although 13 percent of new mothers experience postpartum depression (PPD) in the first year after childbirth, few women recognize the symptoms and seldom discuss their feelings with a health care provider. University of Louisville Hospital (ULH) hopes to change this statistic through a new policy to guide hospital-based perinatal nurses in caring for women with risk of PPD.

23 Jun 2012

Guardian publishes 'shortlists' of International Development Journalism competition entries

The Guardian has published "shortlists" of the amateur and professional entries for its International Development Journalism competition. Topics of the amateur entries include the advancement of women's rights in fragile states, education as a tool for change in the developing world, and the dangers of childbirth in sub-Saharan Africa.

21 Jun 2012

Health Canada approves Viveve System to improve sexual function after childbirth

Viveve, Inc., a woman's health company and pioneer in non-surgical vaginal tissue restoration, announces Health Canada has issued a Medical Device License for the Viveve System to treat laxity of the vaginal introitus (opening) after vaginal childbirth, to improve sexual function. The Viveve procedure is the first of its kind and clinical results have shown an improvement in the feeling of vaginal tightness and sexual satisfaction for women.

18 Jun 2012

Ugandan civil organizations ask Supreme Court to declare death during childbirth violates women's rights

In an effort to lower the maternal mortality rate in Uganda, activists from more than 50 civil service organizations on Tuesday asked the country's Supreme Court "to declare that women's rights are violated when they die in childbirth," which could help make the government put more resources toward maternal health care and lower the rate of maternal deaths, currently about 100 per week, the Associated Press/Fox News reports.

15 Jun 2012

LUHS opens new center to treat women with pelvic-floor disorders

Loyola University Health System (LUHS) will open a multidisciplinary center to treat women with pelvic-floor disorders beginning today, Wednesday, June 13.

14 Jun 2012

Forbes interviews UNFPA Executive Director regarding global progress in reducing maternal mortality

In this post in the Forbes "Leadership" blog, contributor Rahim Kanani interviews U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin about a report titled "Trends in maternal mortality: 1990 to 2010" -- released by UNFPA, WHO, UNICEF and the World Bank in May -- "which shows that the annual number of women who die in pregnancy or childbirth has dropped from more than 543,000 to 287,000, a decline of 47 percent."

8 Jun 2012

Preterm birth rates over past 20 years only dropped in 3 countries

Nearly 15 million babies were born prematurely in 2010—more than one in ten of all births. Sixty percent of these premature babies were born in south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, but this is not just a problem of the poorest nations: the USA (517 000 preterm births) and Brazil (279 300) ranked in the top ten countries with the highest number of premature births in 2010. Worse still, over the past 20 years preterm birth rates have decreased in just three countries, according to the first ever national level estimates and time series published in this week’s Lancet.

8 Jun 2012

Yawning gulf between maternal mortality policies and implementation

As the UN Special Rapporteur on maternal mortality in India points out there is a 'yawning gulf between commendable maternal mortality policies and their urgent, focused, sustained, systematic and effective implementation', the May issue of Reproductive Health Matters explores the causes and impact of this gap, but also highlights hopeful signs of progress.

2 Jun 2012

Despite progress, more effort 'urgently' needed to prevent maternal mortality in Africa

Citing a U.N. report released in May, titled "Trends in Maternal Mortality: 1990 to 2010," which shows "the number of women worldwide dying of pregnancy and childbirth-related complications has almost halved in the last 20 years," Agnes Odhiambo, a researcher for women in Africa at Human Rights Watch, writes in this Inter Press Service opinion piece.

31 May 2012

Most immigrant pregnant women in Spain suffer severe stress

A study conducted at the University of Granada has concluded that most immigrant women who give birth in Spain suffer "severe stress" and should receive psychological treatment after giving birth to help them overcome disorders such as obsessive compulsive disorder, phobic anxiety, depression or psychoticism. These disorders are caused by "the stress of labor itself combined with other personal stress factors. This is a very stressful moment in women's life due to biological, psychological and social factors".

31 May 2012

CDKN1C gene mutation contributes to IMAGe syndrome

A gene previously linked to too much growth in patients has now also been linked to growth restriction. Different forms of the gene can lead to very different conditions, according to research published today in the journal Nature Genetics.

28 May 2012

Childbirth News and Research

Latest Childbirth News and Research

Sling device a good shot for vaginal prolapse repair

Health worker training programs working to improve women's health in Afghanistan

Fetal growth in pregnancy may be affected by standing for long periods

Pregnancy complications are leading killer of teenage girls worldwide, Save the Children report says

Reproductive hormone helps regulate food intake, energy metabolism without adverse effects

Stillbirth rates higher among least well off in England

PeriGen’s patient safety campaign raises awareness about shoulder dystocia

Suicide leading cause of death among young people in India

Study reveals decline in number of babies born with birth defects across Europe

ULH hopes to help women at risk of PPD through new policy

Guardian publishes 'shortlists' of International Development Journalism competition entries

Health Canada approves Viveve System to improve sexual function after childbirth

Ugandan civil organizations ask Supreme Court to declare death during childbirth violates women's rights

LUHS opens new center to treat women with pelvic-floor disorders

Forbes interviews UNFPA Executive Director regarding global progress in reducing maternal mortality

Preterm birth rates over past 20 years only dropped in 3 countries

Yawning gulf between maternal mortality policies and implementation

Despite progress, more effort 'urgently' needed to prevent maternal mortality in Africa

Most immigrant pregnant women in Spain suffer severe stress

CDKN1C gene mutation contributes to IMAGe syndrome

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Childbirth News and Research

Latest Childbirth News and Research

CellVoyant's AI-Powered Vision for the Future of Cell Therapy

Scalable, Smart, and Accessible: The Future of Lab Automation

Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures: A Conversation with WHO’s Dr. Allotey

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