International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

The Tanzanian minister for health and social welfare has vowed to do more to tackle maternal and infant mortality in the country.

Tanzania is still lagging behind other east African nations in terms of meeting the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), reports the Citizen.

The lives of pregnant women with diabetes could be saved if they are given an artificial pancreas, researchers in the UK claim.

Using an artificial pancreas during gestation could help keep sugar levels normal, the research team from Diabetes Care said.

This could help save mothers' lives and improve their children's health, said Diabetes UK, which funded the study.

More than 84 per cent of 13 and 14-year-old girls have now received all three doses of the HPV vaccine against cervical cancer, according to the UK Department of Health.

In the first two years of the programme, more than four million doses of the jab were given, UK public health minister Anne Milton said.

Conducting yearly mammograms on women from the age of 40 could save 71 per cent more lives, according to a new study.

Researchers in the US used model scenarios of breast cancer screening to illustrate the reduction in the number of deaths achieved by yearly mammograms being conducted at 40, instead of 50.

Women who have gestational diabetes are more likely to have children who will struggle with weight problems or diabetes during their lifetime, new Australian research has revealed.

Scientists used mice for the study, which found when the animals developed diabetes during pregnancy it resulted in the effect of "foetal programming" weight, reports AAP.

The European Union (EU) has pledged money for the supply of safe blood and medical gases in Zimbabwe, which could help reduce maternal mortality rates in the country.

Some $2.6 million (£1.6 million) will be given to the African nation to help it meet the annual supply requirements of hospitals and districts in the country.

Women who have a high body mass index during pregnancy are likely to have a longer gestation period, a new study has revealed.

Maternal obesity can also increase the chance of a woman having an induced delivery and experiencing complications during delivery, the UK study published in BJOG found.

Two districts in north-eastern Ethiopia have vowed to outlaw the practice of female genital mutilation.

Amibara and Awash-Fentale, both located in the Afar region of the country, have said they will put a stop to the practice as it causes serious health problems to women, reports IRIN.

Women who smoke heavily before their menopause, and especially before giving birth, could have a slightly higher risk of getting breast cancer, according to a new study.

Researchers in the US examined data from the Nurses' Health Study, examining records of 111,140 women for active smoking and 36,017 for passive smoking.

Scientists in the US have developed a new cost-effective ultrasound system which could be in use in Uganda by the start of summer.

Created at the University of Washington, the device is expected to help in the battle against high mortality rates in the country - particularly in rural areas.