The fight against child mortality has reached an historic milestone the UN announced on Wednesday with latest estimates revealing the number of children dying prematurely before their fifth birthday fell to 4.9 million in 2022. Figures released by the UN Interagency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME) reveal the global under-five mortality rate has […]
Tag: Pregnancy and Childbirth
Blantyre — Data from Blantyre District Health Office shows that the majority of people seeking post-abortion care are young girls. Of the 2003 reported cases that were treated for post-abortion care from unsafe abortions in the last quarter of 2023, a staggering 1003 were under the age of 20, while 1000 were slightly over 20 […]
Nairobi — The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) has revealed that Nairobi has recorded the highest number of teenage pregnancies. In a statement, the human rights body stated that the county has recorded 452 pregnancies of teenagers between 15 and 19 years. Nairobi was closely followed by Kakamega County which had 328 cases Bungoma County […]
Mother Care Group (MCG) an initiative which started in 2019, has been hailed as a vibrant initiative aimed at reducing infant mortality rate in the country. A visit to different districts where this project is taking place, opinion leaders these include members of clergy, Traditional leaders, political party leaders and health workers have all agreed […]
Nairobi — The Ministry of Health has negotiated the price of Heat Stable Carbetocin, a medicine used for preventing excessive bleeding during and after childbirth, from Sh1,444 to Sh92 per dose. According to the National Health Body, the medicine does not require refrigeration, contrary to oxytocin, Kenya’s first choice for preventing and managing postpartum hemorrhage. […]
An unplanned population is a disaster in the making The United Nations, in its new population prediction, stated that by the year 2050, three of the 10 most populous countries in the world will be in Africa. Nigeria, currently rated among the fastest growing countries in the world, is one of them. Ordinarily this should […]
An intense debate ensued in Rwanda recently on social media on whether contraceptives should be made available to adolescents without necessarily requiring parental consent. The debate was sparked by a social media post by one of the country’s cabinet ministers in which he asked if it was high time that people discussed contraception as an […]
THE city of Bulawayo recorded 70 home-based births amid calls for authorities to reconsider the state of maternal health in the country urgently, the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD) revealed. In a brief update titled Maternal Health: A threat to Human Capital Development the civil society grouping blamed the crumbling health service in […]
On November 22nd, 2023, for the first time in over a year after the conflict, surgeons at Adi Daero Primary Hospital started to bring life into the world again. Forty-year-old Wahid Hadush became the first mother to deliver a healthy baby via Cesarean section. Wahid had traveled from Adi-Abagi with an ambulance. Upon her arrival, […]
Gloria Muruva — Health experts have urged the Government to urgently implement measures to address the rising number of child pregnancies, largely through ensuring adolescent girls had support and back-up so they could step away from early sexual relationships. The national teenage pregnancy rate stands at 22 percent, and is the highest contributor to school […]
Government says the country registered unprecedented 35 000 unsafe abortions last year, renewing calls for the country to ease abortion laws so that they reflect the situation on the ground. Abortion is illegal in the country as it is only supposed to be done in extreme instances where the life of woman is said to […]
Over 130 babies were born on Christmas Day in some of the country’s major hospitals with a lot more born in clinics, private maternity units and other centres. At Harare’s three major hospitals, 92 babies were born, with boys topping the births. Chitungwiza Central Hospital had 23 babies, 12 boys and 11 girls while Sally […]
Categories
Nigeria: On Maternal Mortality in Nigeria
Health authorities could do more to contain the scourge That five of every 1000 Nigerian women die while delivering their babies is alarming. Latest statistics from the World Health Organisation (WHO) reveal that Nigeria accounts for over 34 per cent of global maternal deaths while the lifetime risk of dying during pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum, or […]
Four women, living with HIV, received compensation of U.S.$20,000 each after undergoing involuntary sterilisation without informed consent. In interviews with the BBC, they shared their harrowing experiences, after a nine-year legal battle. Penda, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, said she underwent surgery shortly after having twins at the state-owned Pumwani Maternity […]
About 50 per cent of babies delivered annually at the maternity unit of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) are preterm, Senior Specialist Paediatrician, Dr Kojo Ahor-Essel, has disclosed. He said although preterm birth; where a baby is born too early before 37 weeks of pregnancy, is a usual occurrence, the hospital was seeing issues of […]
DAR ES SALAAM:FORMER President, Jakaya Kikwete has applauded the government for notable reduction of maternal deaths from 556 in every 100,000 live births in 2016 to 104 deaths in 2022. Dr Kikwete made the remarks on Thursday during the official opening of the Second Scientific Conference on Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, Adolescent Health and Nutrition […]
As the world approaches World Premature Day, Mulago Specialized Women and Neonatal Hospital grapples with an influx of preterm babies, attributing the surge to a concerning trend of expectant mothers neglecting antenatal care services. Dr. Evelyn Nabunya, the Executive Director of Mulago Women, emphasized the critical role antenatal care plays in preventing premature births. “A […]
A study has established that pregnant women who smoke (tobacco) are at greater risk of delivering stillbirths, premature births and/or miscarriage while passive smokers (exposure of the non-smoking mother to second-hand smoke) also run the risk of harming the foetus. Kenyan Consultant Paediatrician, Epidemiologist and Researcher, Dr. Michael Kariuki, made the revelation at the Third […]