Groups

Adolescent Health and Preconception Care - Discussion for the month

Worldwide in 2010, 287000 women died, with many more suffering long-term disability, from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. In the same year, globally 3.1 million newborn babies died in their first month of life, while 14.9 million were born prematurely and 2.7 million were stillborn. There is widespread agreement that a continuum of care approach is necessary to further reduce maternal, newborn and child deaths. At present, this continuum extends from pregnancy and childbirth, to the postnatal period (for both mothers and neonates), through early childhood. A gap remains in this continuum, particularly for adolescent girls and young women, who often receive little or no healthcare from age five until their first pregnancy. Recently adolesdcent health and preconception care has been widely advocated. It is suggested that preconception care completes the continuum, ensuring ongoing health surveillance and early intervention, so that women begin pregnancy in the best health possible. Interventions that optimize women’s health before pregnancy with the intent to improve maternal and newborn health outcomes are collectively termed preconception care. A recent series on Preconception Care (http://www.reproductive-health-journal.com/supplements/11/S3) highlights the possible impact of preconception care for adolescents, women and couples of reproductive age on MNCH outcomes. This month, we are also fortunate to have one of the key persons from this Series, Zohra S Lassi, available with us for questions and comments. We welcome all the members to join this discussion and put forward their comments and questions on the idea of "Preconception Care". Feel free to add comments or refer to your work in this area.

Midwives Forum

This group has been created for the midwives who are an integral part of motherchild health. It would be a platform for them to share their experiences and build linkages.

Introductions

This group has been created to allow group members to introduce themselves. Please use this group for any social chat, general questions and to describe what it is that you would most like to get out of this site, and from the network as a whole.

Childhood Pneumonia and Diarrhoea - Discussion for the Month (May 2013)

In the past 20 years, global mortality in children younger than 5 years has decreased by 41%, from 87 deaths per 1000 livebirths in 1990, to 51 deaths in 2011. This decline is a public health success, but time trends hide the real tragedy: 6·9 million children younger than 5 years still died in 2011, mostly from preventable causes. Furthermore, the world is not on track to meet Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 4, to reduce deaths in children younger than 5 years by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015. Acceleration of the reduction in child deaths requires targeting of the leading causes of mortality. In the postneonatal period, the biggest killers of children younger than 5 years are pneumonia and diarrhoea. Childhood pneumonia and diarrhoea share many risk factors (eg, absence of exclusive breastfeeding of children younger than 6 months, undernutrition, zinc deficiency), and solutions. Integrated programmes for these illnesses can reduce the burden of both. The Lancet Series on Childhood Pneumonia and Diarrhoea, led by Aga Khan University, Pakistan, provides evidence for integrated control efforts for childhood pneumonia and diarrhoea.  Find this information here: http://mother-childlink.tghn.org/articles/childhood-pneumonia-and-diarrhoea/ This month, May, we are also fortunate to have one of the key persons from the new Lancet  Series, Prof. Zulfiqar A Bhutta, available with us for questions and comments. The Series provides the evidence base to make the case that ending preventable child deaths from pneumonia and diarrhoea within the next 12 years is ambitious but achievable and necessary. Post your questions or comments to this group below. To post questions or comments:

• register with the Mother Child link site
• sign in to the Mother Child Link site and join this group
• click on the link below this text to comment or ask your question

News and Events

Please post here about any news items or events relevant to maernal or reproductive health.