International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

Too many women in developed countries are having Caesarean section births when they do not need to, it has been claimed.

Beverley Beech, chair of the UK Association for Improvements in the Maternity Services, said that for fit and healthy women, the safest place to give birth is at home, but too often a lack of midwifery support makes this impossible.

Regular use of a dummy can cause speech problems for young infants, it has been claimed.

According to a spokesperson for the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, babies who have dummies in their mouths have fewer opportunities to babble.

Since this is the foundation of speech, they may not communicate with others as readily, he suggested.

A new report has indicated that the vast majority of women in the UK are not able to choose where they give birth.

Despite living in one of the world's most developed countries, 95.8 per cent of pregnant women in Britain do not have the choice they are promised by the government, the National Childbirth Trust (NCT) says.

An Ethiopian woman has told of her joy at receiving reparative surgery on her obstetric fistula.

Zeinat Workneh, from Addis Ababa, endured the injury for five years after suffering an obstructed labour, exacerbated by the absence of a skilled birth attendant.

The first successful human womb transplant could happen within the next two years, it has been claimed.

British scientists say they have developed a way of transplanting a womb with a regular blood supply, allowing it to last long enough to carry out a pregnancy.

Using rabbits, researchers at the Royal Veterinary College managed to attach wombs using major blood vessels.

For too many years, women's lives, dreams and rights have not been given the priority attention they deserve, according to the executive director of the United Nations Population Fund.

Most women experiencing the menopause are not being informed about alternative treatments, a new report has claimed.

Food supplement producer Phyto Soya claims that despite concerns about hormone replacement therapy (HRT), almost half of women with menopausal symptoms are prescribed it after visiting their doctor.

More needs to be done to raise awareness of cervical cancer among young women, it has been suggested.

A HIV vaccine clinical trial in Thailand has been found to be "modestly effective" in preventing infection, according to new data presented at the Aids Vaccine 2009 Conference in Paris.

Pregnant women should ensure they are consuming folic acid where possible, it has been claimed.