International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

African heads of state are being asked to ensure they stand by their promises to spend 15 per cent of their budgets on health by a new African civil society coalition.

Women with a history of delivering babies early cannot be helped to carry their child to full term by taking omega-3 fatty acid supplements, according to new research.

Smoke exposure in the womb could damage babies' blood pressure control and explain why such infants' risk of cot death is greater, according to new research.

Good relationship education has been shown to delay the point at which young people start having sex, it has been claimed.

Rebecca Findlay, a spokesperson for the UK Family Planning Association, said advice is "really important" because it can help avoid risky experimentation.

Pregnant women should receive encouragement to help them quit smoking, rather than be made to feel guilty about their habit, it has been claimed.

Janet Fyle, professional policy advisor for the UK's Royal College of Midwives, said the best way to encourage women to give up smoking is to highlight the health benefits to support them as individuals.

Malaria poses a severe risk to 125 million pregnancies around the world every year, according to a new study.

Researchers from the Malaria in Pregnancy Consortium revealed that the figure represents 60 per cent of all pregnancies globally.

More than half of all maternal deaths in Africa can be attributed to unsafe abortions, it has been claimed.

Young women must continue to go for cervical cancer screening, it has been claimed.

Tony Kerridge, a spokesperson for Marie Stopes International, said there is "a slight concern" that women believe they do not require screening if they have received the HPV vaccine.

US researchers have identified a number of genes associated with recurring breast cancer, it has been reported.

According to an article published in the Nature Medicine journal, a small number of overexpressed and amplified genes from chromosome 8q22, connected to early disease recurrence, have been discovered.

The issue of maternal mortality requires immediate attention in Kyrgyzstan, it has been reported.

Ajibai Kalmamatov, a member of the parliament in the former Soviet state, reported that 97 deaths were witnessed before or during childbirth, or from labour complications during 2009.