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Texas Cities Have Some of the Highest Preterm Birth Rates in the US, Highlighting Maternal Health Crisis Nationwide
The March of Dimes report scored the U.S. overall a D+ grade on preterm birth rate at 10.4%, but states differ dramatically in their scores. New Hampshire, for example, scored an A- with 7.9% of infants born prematurely, while Mississippi, where 15% of infants are born prematurely, scored an F.
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The Best and Worst States to Have a Baby
I write about maternal health a lot on Social Good Moms and sometimes I don’t write enough about newborn health. I saw some interesting information this month about the best and worst states to have a baby and thought the data was interesting to share. The data was compiled by Wallet Hub. They compared the…
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Double Your Donation Today By Giving to World Vision #GivingTuesday
When I travel to low-income countries I am most interested in learning about and reporting on maternal and newborn health. As a mother of two daughters it is my biggest passion. Today on Giving Tuesday I am proud to work with one of my favorite international nonprofit organizations: World Vision USA. I had the distinct opportunity…
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Kenya is a Breastfeeding Success Story But Still Has Its Challenges
By Elizabeth Kimani-Murage, Brown University Breastfeeding has both short-term and long-term nutritional benefits for children. Nutrition is central to sustainable development. Good nutrition in the first 1000 days of a child’s life is critical for child growth, well being and survival, and future productivity. The World Health Organisation recommends exclusive breastfeeding for children until they are six…
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7 Moms Give Their Best Breastfeeding Advice #WBW2015
This week Social Good Moms’ members share their best breastfeeding advice. See previous advice and stories from our World Breastfeeding Week series. Be kind to yourself, it’s not always perfectly easy! Don’t be afraid to ask for help and guidance. – Lisa, @aboutproximity I didn’t think I could breastfeed, but a little music to help baby and I…
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An Increasing Number of Normal Weight and Term Babies Are Admitted to American NICUs
A study conducted by two Dartmouth researchers reveals an increasing number of normal weight and term babies are being cared for in hospitals’ NICUs across the country calling into question the reasoning behind intensive care for healthy babies. Tracking births from January 2007 through December 2012 the study conducted by Wade Harrison, MPH, and David…
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New Bill is Committed to Reducing Maternal, Newborn, and Child Mortality
Today a new bipartisan bill, The Reach Every Mother and Child Act, was introduced to the Senate by Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Chris Coons (D-Del). The Reach Every Mother and Child Act will build upon decades-old work of the United States being a leader on drastically reducing maternal, newborn, and child mortality. In fact, this new bill…
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Multibillion-Dollar Fund Launches to Prevent Global Maternal, Newborn, and Child Deaths
This week at the Third International Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, a new multibillion-dollar global fund was launched. Called the Global Financing Facility, the fund will pump international, domestic, public, and private financing into high-burden, low-income countries that desperately need the funds to save more of its mothers, newborns, and children. The Global Financing Facility will…
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Humanitarian Designs Innovative Diaper for Developing Countries
Michael Wahl didn’t purposely set out to create an innovative cloth diaper for babies who live in the developing world as well as a humanitarian organization, Dri Butts, that distributes diapers to families in need. Rather, he saw it as a necessity to prevent diseases caused by the spread of fecal matter. Many children in low-and middle-income…
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48 Corporations Step Up to Curb Newborn Deaths
A new, first-of-its-kind report, The Ultimate Investment in the Future Profiles of Corporate Engagement in the Health and Development of Newborns [PDF] was recently released that catalogs 48 corporations and their financial commitments to saving the lives of more newborns globally. Currently there are 2.6 million stillbirths every year and 2.8 million newborns do not…
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Maternal and Newborn Health News from the 68th World Health Assembly
The 68th World Health Assembly features the launch of two important reports – The WHO report on Strategies Toward Ending Preventable Maternal Mortality [PDF] and the Every Newborn Action Plan Progress Report [PDF]. Maternal health remains one of the most elusive Millennium Development Goal to achieve. While maternal deaths worldwide have been nearly halved since…
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7 Facts About Premature Births You Might Not Have Known
Photo: A premature baby is shown in the postnatal ward at Cama Hospital, a major hospital for women and children, in Mumbai, India. UN Photo/Mark Garten Premature births are now the number one killer of babies globally. Of the 6.3 million children under five who died last year, 1.1 million of them died due to complications from premature…
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New Report on Child Mortality Trends Released
Today a collaborative report on trends in child mortality was released by the World Bank, UNICEF, the United Nations and the World Health Organization. According to the Levels and Trends in Child Mortality report, child mortality has dropped by 49 percent since 1990. Even so, Millennium Development Goal 4 (MDG 4) has yet to be reached.…
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Introducing Our Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health Correspondents
As our work continues to expand globally especially as the MDG deadline nears in 2015 we want to ensure that international voices are the cornerstone of our coverage of maternal, newborn, and child health worldwide. We are beginning with three correspondents: Winfred Ogdom, a nutritionist from Uganda, Maryanne W. Waweru a motherhood blogger and journalist from Nairobi, Kenya,…
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Sharing Moms’ Stories for #WorldBreastfeeding Week: Bri #WBW2014
Even though some mothers want nothing more than to breastfeed their babies, sometimes unforeseen circumstances arise that make nursing difficult. In Bri’s breastfeeding story she discusses the issues she had when breastfeeding her first-born, Roree, and how breastfeeding eventually became easier and easier for her and her daughter. From the time she was 3 months…
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Photos from the Field: NeoNatalie Newborn Educational Mannequin
In low-resource settings across the globe midwives are learning about the critical first hour after birth that can keep more newborns alive through Helping Babies Breathe training. In Yetoban, Ethiopia at Project Mercy midwives take skills labs classes that will utilize the NeoNatalie Newborn educational mannequin. Midwifery training at Project Mercy is through a partnership between Jhpiego,…
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Photos from the Field: Expectant Mother Seeks Help in “Lie and Wait” House #Ethiopia
Expectant woman, Ayelech Fikadu, and her mother, Zarge Badunga sit in a “lie and wait” house at Project Mercy outside of Butajira, Ethiopia. The house was recently renovated by USAID and Pathfinder. Butajira is located in Ethiopia’s southern highlands where many live in the mountains. Women who live in the mountains have a difficult time…
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Photo From the Field: Nine-Day-Old Newborn
This woman in Mosebo village, 43 kilometers from Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, holds her nine-day-old baby and quickly quiets him by breastfeeding him in her home. Save the Children is working diligently with the Ethiopian Federal Government to properly train health extension workers and provide continuing education for the workers to help save the lives of vulnerable newborns.…
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Inside Sierra Leone’s Maternal and Newborn Mortality Rates
With an overall population of 5.9 million people in Sierra Leone, 200 women will die today from complications during childbirth. Every year, 2400 women lose their lives due to pregnancy related causes in Sierra Leone. And, close to 10,000 babies die every year during their first month of life. There has been notable progress in…
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Every Newborn Action Plan Launches in Johannesburg
Johannesburg – After over a year of work, the Every Newborn Action Plan (ENAP) was officially launched on Monday, June 30 in Johannesburg during the third Partners’ Forum. In May, the Plan was adopted by the World Health Assembly in Geneva by all 194 member countries during succesful, albeit precarious deliberations. The Every Newborn Action…