International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

Scientists have created a new gene technology which can cause breast cancer cells to self-destruct.

Researchers from Belfast's Queen's University, UK, have pioneered an innovative gene transport system, called a Designer Biomimetic Vector, which can deliver a gene directly into the cancerous cells, causing them to die.

The UK government has announced new guidelines to help frontline healthcare professionals identify and prevent female genital mutilation.

A good maternal health record is a sure sign that a country's health system is functioning well, according to the African Ministry of Health.

The University of Aberdeen in the UK is launching a study to assess the impact fee exemption is having on maternal health in west Africa and Morocco.

Many developing countries introduced user fees in the 1980s, as a way of helping fund maternal healthcare.

GPs sometimes take more than a month to record ovarian cancer diagnosis, new research has revealed.

In one in ten cases, family doctors take more than four weeks to record specialist diagnosis of the illness, according to a new issue of the British Medical Journal (BMJ) online.

High intake of vitamin D can help prevent or lower the incidence of breast cancer, a new study has revealed.

US researchers found there is a need for the higher intake of the vitamin to reach blood levels to reduce the risk of the illness.

Women who use antipsychotic drugs during their pregnancy could put their newborn baby at risk, it has been suggested.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US has updated the labelling on medicines to show the potential side effects to children whose mothers are taking antipsychotic drugs in their third trimester.

Scientists from the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) have found an enzyme which could be blocked to stop the spread of breast cancer to other parts of the body.

If experts can manage to block the action of lysyl oxidase-like 2 (LOXL2), treatments could be developed to stop cancer cells moving from a tumour in the breast to other organs.

Researchers have found that couples' in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) success is dependent upon the number of cycles the woman undergoes.

Writing in the journal Fertility and Sterility, researchers from the University of Western Australia said IVF success could be improved if couples just keep trying, reports Reuters.

Inducing labour without a medical reason puts mothers at greater risk and does not have any benefits for the baby, according to a recent study.