For female migrant workers in the sugar belt of India’s western Maharashtra state, periods are treated as an inconvenient interruption to work. To get rid of them, scores of women cane cutters undergo hysterectomies. Husband-and-wife field teams are fined if they miss a day…
In the US it costs an average of $12,000 to have a baby. In Finland, just named the world's happiest country, parents pay around $60 per night for childbirth services through government-funded health care.
African refugee women settled in the US may receive less prenatal care, but they still have healthier pregnancies than US-born women. According to a recent University of Buffalo study, acclimatization to US culture—marked by processed food, drug and alcohol use, and…
9 years in the making, a drug trial offers a promising solution to the single biggest cause of maternal death: excessive bleeding. London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine researchers found that tranexamic acid—commonly used in surgery—prevented a third of postpartum…
By the time they get their first period, over 50% of Afghan girls have never heard the term zan marizi, “a woman’s illness.” Under shame and secrecy, many avoid bathing for fear of infertility and even more are ostracized due to stigma during menstruation. A new…
Reversing a controversial policy, the Democratic Republic of the Congo will offer an experimental Ebola vaccine to pregnant and lactating women, and infants under 1 year old. The WHO has endorsed the change. Supporters of the exclusion highlighted the lack of data about the…
The debilitating symptoms of perinatal depression are dangerous to mothers and babies alike. But the condition can be prevented, a national panel has reported for the first time.
Using the make-do “MacGyver” method, emergency physician Thomas Burke designed a lifesaving kit to stop deadly postpartum hemorrhage—which causes 1 in 3 maternal deaths. His low-tech “uterine balloon tamponade” has been deployed thousands of times and boasts a 97% survival…
In 2015, more than 300,000 women died during childbirth—often from preventable causes. 99% of the deaths occurred in developing countries. While maternal mortality fell 44% from 1990-2015, that still falls short of the UN’s goals.
The interests of pregnant women must be addressed in the fight against Lassa fever, urge a trio of bioethicists.
