November 11, 2013
Africa: Helping Mothers to Deliver Healthy Children Safely
Holding the hand of Kumi as she went into labor at 3 am is a moment I'll never forget. Kumi lives in small hut in rural Ethiopia, hours away from the nearest health facility - and… Read more »
October 31, 2013
Africa: Child Mothers Set to Double By 2030, Says UN
The number of girls who become mothers before they are 15 years old is set nearly to double in sub-Saharan Africa by 2030, according to a new United Nations report. Read more »
October 22, 2013
Africa: Ethiopia Proclaims Right to Family Planning
"Unmet need", in the context of family planning, is a rather mundane term that masks an urgent social justice and human rights issue. An estimated 220 million women in the world… Read more »
June 06, 2013
Africa: Lancet Highlights Importance of Maternal, Child Nutrition
A new Lancet series on maternal and child nutrition examines the problems associated with undernutrition and successful interventions. A similar report released by Lancet in 2008… Read more »
May 31, 2013
Africa: Bold Goals, Measurement Needed for Progress Against Poverty
With the expiration of the initiative still more than a year away, there is planning underway to move beyond the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) aimed at… Read more »
May 08, 2013
Africa: DR Congo Riskiest Country For New Mothers
The riskiest country in the world to be a new mother is the Democratic Republic of Congo. That's according to Save the Children's 2013 State of the World's Mothers report. Read more »
April 26, 2013
Africa: Babies Dying Gets Me Where It Hurts
"Eight thousand newborn babies will die during this conference." Read more »
March 02, 2013
Africa: Kangaroo Care Boosts the Odds for Preterm Infants
In one world, Tabitha Wanjiku is shimmying under cars, tweaking transmissions and rewiring brake lights on her way to certification as a mechanic. In another, the soft-spoken,… Read more »
January 18, 2013
Nigeria: Ondo State Governor Determined to Turn Tide on Maternal Health
One in five Nigerian children will die before reaching his or her fifth birthday, according to Save the Children. Their mothers are also suffering - the country accounted for 14… Read more »
November 14, 2012
Africa: Using Family Planning as a 'Liberating Force'
Nearly 20 years ago, 179 countries came together and made a commitment to provide sexual and reproductive health care, including family planning, to their people. The… Read more »
November 01, 2012
South Africa: Mother and Baby Put to the Test
In July, AllAfrica.com reported on a clinic in Cape Town, South Africa, that has defied the country's distressing trend over the past decade of maternal mortality rates rising… Read more »
September 07, 2012
Africa: Eradicating Malaria Possible but Needs Efforts and Funds
The last decade has seen a successful global effort to reduce the toll of malaria - a deadly, mosquito-borne infectious disease. In the Africa region, according to the World Health… Read more »
Kenya: Ngilu Pursues Presidency on Pro-Poor Platform
Kenya's water and irrigation minister, Charity Kaluki Ngilu announced her bid for the presidency this week as leader of the National Rainbow Coalition. She calls it the "party of… Read more »
September 06, 2012
South Africa: Nation Bucks Trend of Declining TB
The health and wellbeing of South Africans is worsening rather than improving, according to a key indicator. Read more »
September 05, 2012
South Africa: Depression May Cause Deaths Among New Mothers, Says Expert
High levels of depression may be contributing to the rising death rate among new mothers in South Africa, says a researcher. Read more »
July 11, 2012
Ethiopia: 'Choosing Our Future' - Health Minister's Speech to Family Planning Summit
Following is the text of the address by Ethiopia's Minister of Health Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to delegates at the London Summit on Family Planning: Read more »
Senegal: Health Minister Says Family Planning a National Priority
Following is the text of the address by Senegal's Minister of Health Dr Awa Marie Coll-Seck to the Family Planning Summit: Read more »
Nigeria: Govt Pledges to Supply More Contraceptives
Following is an address to the Global Family Planning Summit by Dr Muhammad Ali Pate, the Minister of State for Health of Nigeria. Read more »
July 10, 2012
Africa: London Summit Aims to Save Lives With Family Planning
A summit aimed at halving the number of women in developing countries without access to contraception opens in London on Wednesday, and African women stand to benefit the most… Read more »
July 06, 2012
South Africa: Clinic Shows How to Cut Maternal Deaths
In a country where deaths from pregnancy and childbirth have been rising - more than four-fold in a decade, according to reports - not a single maternal death was recorded at a… Read more »
June 12, 2012
Malawi: Kangaroo Care Helps Malawi Leap Forward
Malawi, one of Africa's poorest nations, has made significant progress in improving the survival of newborns and is on track to meet the United Nations Millennium Development Goal… Read more »
May 08, 2012
Congo-Kinshasa: Where Giving Birth Is Deadly
Her limbs flaccid, her eyes wide with fear and pain, Théthé's cries seem oddly detached from her body, as if part of her isn't lying on a brown vinyl mattress, slick… Read more »
April 05, 2012
Africa: Are Maternal Deaths a 'Right to Life' Issue?
Picture yourself in a room with 30 other women - knowing that one of you will die during pregnancy or childbirth. That's not a concept for a macabre TV show - unless it's reality… Read more »
April 03, 2012
Kenya: Slum Midwives Bridge Labour Gap
To the casual visitor, the dusty, dimly lit room may not look much like a birthing center. But many women consider their babies lucky to enter the world in this mud-walled space in… Read more »
March 08, 2012
South Sudan: Striving for Equity in Health for Women
Today, March 8, marks International Women's Day, a day in which to both note the tremendous strides women have made globally over the past 100 years, as well as acknowledge the… Read more »