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Obstetrics
Mapping the clitoris to reshape understanding of women’s health
It's a little pea-sized thing that can give women immense pleasure. Except, as Dame Lesley Regan, MD, a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at...
Aspirin may cut preterm birth risk in extreme heat – US study
Recent research led by scientists-physicians at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre (BIDMC) suggests that low-dose aspirin initiated early in pregnancy may mitigate the...
Call for justice after forced sterilisations
Government has been slammed for its prevarication and failure to assist the HIV-positive victims of forced and coerced sterilisation, reports The Citizen.
Local NGO Her...
Respectful maternity care can save South African lives – Lancet
A recent study led by the SA Medical Research Council and UKZN and published in The Lancet Regional Health – Africa, found that improving...
Early birth safer for babies, mothers with high BP – Cochrane review
Planned early birth for pregnant women with high blood pressure cuts maternal complications by nearly half and reduces the risk of stillbirth, without increasing...
Anti-depressants in pregnancy not tied to autism/ADHD – Hong Kong analysis
In an analysis of more than half a million pregnancies, there was no indication that taking anti-depressants during pregnancy increased the risk of children...
Successful birth of quadruplets for Mpumalanga mother
Experts say the chances of conceiving quadruplets are extremely low, so the birth of four babies to an Mpumalanga mother last month was a...
South Africa’s smallest surviving baby beats all odds
The parents of a baby born in 2002 – weighing just 410g – were told by doctors it would be best to abort because...
Danish study provides further assurance about Tylenol and autism
A large study by researchers from Denmark has again confirmed that taking acetaminophen – known in the US as Tylenol and paracetamol in South...
Women were never meant to give birth on their backs – and why they do
It’s usually more dangerous for women to give birth lying down, so why do they? Turns out it’s all because of a Frenchman who...
Pregnant women ignore experts, swayed by Trump’s autism theories
Despite the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the American Academy of Paediatrics emphasising that the science does not clearly tie Tylenol use...
Africa’s deadly legacy – one stillbirth every 30 seconds
A major report has revealed that a baby is stillborn every 30 seconds in Africa, exposing major cracks in the continent’s healthcare systems. Most...
Why are children still being born with Foetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder?
Despite clear scientific evidence that there is no safe amount of alcohol during pregnancy, Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) remains a persistent public health...
Limpopo team separates conjoined twins in complex surgery
Doctors in Limpopo made history after separating conjoined twin boys – born in January at Mankweng Hospital outside Polokwane – in a mammoth eight-hour surgical procedure on...
Obstetric violence rampant in KZN, Gauteng, survey finds
Pregnant women in South Africa – specifically in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal – are subjected to alarming levels of obstetric violence during their pregnancies, childbirth...
Fewer boys born in warmer climes – Oxford study
British scientists have suggested that as temperatures rise due to climate change, heat above 20°C is leading to fewer male births – that heat...
Newborns with hearing loss diagnosed too late in South Africa, say experts
Despite the proven benefits of newborn hearing screening and early intervention, universal screening is not yet mandated in South Africa and is only available...
Mothers call for probe into obstetric violence at state hospitals
More than 50 mothers and activists picketed outside the National Department of Health in Pretoria on Monday to demand better maternity healthcare, and calling...
First birth in UK using transplanted womb from dead donor
A baby boy has become the first child in Britain to be born using a womb transplanted from a dead donor, reports the BBC.
Grace...
Is autism preventable in certain cases? Some experts say yes
A number of scientists are raising tantalising questions about staving off autism, either before birth or in the early months of life, but others...
Mother wants answers for 14-year-old’s death after childbirth complications
A heartbroken mother from Grassy Park, on the Cape Flats, is demanding answers for her 14-year-old daughter’s death, just weeks after giving birth, allegedly...
New drug holds promise for pre-eclampsia
A new drug for a dangerous condition that affects pregnant women, threatening not just their health but their babies’ lives as well, could transform...
First Eastern Cape public IVF clinic opens
Eastern Cape Health has just launched the province’s first public in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) clinic, which opened at Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital in Mthatha last...
What HRT label removal means for breast cancer survivors
The announcement by the FDA that it would begin removal of black box warnings for menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) raises questions about the implications...
Patient's 10-hour wait highlights Rahima Moosa staff crisis
A Johannesburg hospital has apologised to a couple who endured a frustrating 10-hour wait for attention last week, despite their pleas for help and...
Midwife denies responsibility for babies’ disabilities, deaths
Former Pretoria midwife Yolande Maritz Fouchee, charged with assault and culpable homicide, denied responsibility for two babies born with disabilities – one dying shortly...
World short of one million midwives, warns global report
Africa has only 40% of the midwives it needs, while globally, there’s a massive shortage of nearly 1m midwives, leaving pregnant women without the...
Major Lancet review debunks paracetamol, autism claims
Taking paracetamol while pregnant is safe and there is no evidence it increases the risk of autism, ADHD and developmental issues in children, say...
No link between HRT and dementia – Lancet review
A recent meta-analysis commissioned by the World Health Organisation (WHO), which included health data from more than 1m women, found that hormone replacement therapy...
Full-term baby born after rare abdominal ectopic pregnancy
A California medical team recently delivered a healthy baby born at term from an abdominal pregnancy during which the mother didn’t even know she...
Experts flag dangers of lung float test
America’s largest organisation for medical examiners has issued a warning about a controversial, centuries-old forensic test that has contributed to cases in which pregnant...
Epigenetic study shows women age five years in pregnancy
Pregnancy was found to accelerate epigenetic ageing by up to 5.3 years in nulliparous women, suggests a prospective study by American scientists. Additionally, an...
Prenatal stress tied to faster biological ageing in babies – US study
In what is thought to be the first study to directly link prenatal stress hormones with primary tooth eruption, US researchers have said that,...
US approves changes for cervical cancer screening
The American Cancer Society (ACS) is introducing two key changes for cervical cancer screening: the option of self-collection of vaginal samples for primary human...
MPs demand action after forced sterilisations on HIV+ women
The National Department of Health denies ever having carried out forced sterilisation on HIV+ women, saying that has never been its policy, and that...
Experts flag rise in premature infant blindness – SA study
Local experts have sounded the alarm after their recent study showed a spike in premature infant blindness, detracting from the progress made in the...
General anaesthesia safe option for C-sections – US review
Regional anaesthesia, typically with a spinal or epidural block, has long been favoured for Caesarean births, due partly to concerns about the effects general...
Child Gauge flags maternal violence and neglect in SA
The country’s maternal health system is in crisis, and domestic violence is making it worse, experts say, warning that with just 11 maternal and...
No link between Tylenol and autism in children – UK review
A wide-ranging review into paracetamol use by pregnant women has found no convincing link between the common painkiller and the chances of children being...
Human trials for artificial wombs for prem babies edge closer
For parents who have buried infants born too soon, a device like the AquaWomb is a miracle in waiting – and an impossible choice,...