Evoking the guardian angel: childbirth care in a Palestinian hospital.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to assess the quality of maternity care in a large, public, Palestinian referral hospital, as a first step in developing interventions to improve safety and quality of maternity care. Provider interviews, observation and interviews with women were used to understand the barriers...

Making pregnancy safer in Myanmar: introducing misoprostol to prevent post-partum haemorrhage as part of active management of the third stage of labour.
IN Myanmar, we carried out a successful pilot intervention with the prostaglandin misoprostol in the active management of the third stage of labour, for prevention of post-partum haemorrhage. The pilot aimed to appraise the operational feasibility, efficiency, impact and cost-effectiveness of the intervention at family and community level, and...

Breasts, wombs, and the body politic.
Mass Hysterias. Medicine, Culture, and Mothers' Bodies. By Rebecca Kukla. Rowman & Littlefield, 2005. 251 pages. Paperback, $27.95. Although studies indicate no significant medical benefits from routine ultrasounds during pregnancy, ultrasound screening has become a standard component of obstetrical care and is regularly covered by health insurance...

Research on severe maternal morbidities and near-misses in brazil: what we have learned.
Abstract: The occurrence of complications during pregnancy depends less on the degree of human development than differences in the way complications in pregnancy are detected and managed. It is the quick diagnosis and correct management that really contribute to the enormous differences in maternal mortality ratios between countries and...

Maternal mortality and maternity care from 1990 to 2005: uneven but important gains.
Abstract: Maternal mortality continues to be the major cause of death among women of reproductive age in many countries. Data from published studies and Demographic and Health Surveys show that gains in reducing maternal mortality between 1990 and 2005 have been modest overall. In 2005, there were about 536,000...

Botox treats kids with cerebral palsy.
Byline: Vasundhara Sanger MUMBAI: Botox has been largely publicised to smoothen out frown lines between eyebrows and foreheads of aging divas and fashionistas. However, it's not just the cosmetics surgeons who are seeking it out as a remedy. Dr Ashok N Johri, Hon. professor of Orthopaedic Surgery...

Birthing a Slave: Motherhood and Medicine in the Antebellum South.
Marie Jenkins Schwartz, Birthing a Slave: Motherhood and Medicine in the Antebellum South. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2006. Pp. 401. Cloth, $29.95. In Birthing a Slave: Motherhood and Medicine in the Antebellum South, Marie Jenkins Schwartz focuses on the intervention of physicians in the reproductive cycles...

Making systems work: the hard part of improving maternal health services in South Africa.
Abstract: As part of a multi-country study, maternal health services were reviewed in one health district in Gauteng Province, South Africa. Poor record-keeping, inadequate supervision, poor levels of clinical knowledge and under-utilisation of midwife obstetric units were found. Interventions identified by local health service personnel to improve maternity care...

Support to the Safe Motherhood Programme in Nepal: an integrated approach.
Abstract: Evidence gathered from 1997 to 2006 indicates progress in reducing maternal mortality in Nepal, but public health services are still constrained by resource and staff shortages, especially in rural areas. The five-year Support to the Safe Motherhood Programme builds on the experience of the Nepal Safer Motherhood Project...

Of HIV, grief and top.
To the Editor: We write in response to J V Larsen's letter on the psychological effects of termination of pregnancy among women living with HIV, which appeared in the February 2008 edition of the SAMJ. (1) Dr Larsen stated that '... there is strong evidence that a decision for...