International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

Consul general of the United States Embassy in Nigeria Jeffrey Hawkins has told fistula patients in the country that they will continue to receive support from the US government.

Obstetric fistula patients have been speaking about their experiences after completing vocational courses at the Fistula Rehabilitation and Reintegration Center in Bong County, Liberia.

The Monrovia News reports that 18 women earned certificates after training in soap making, tie and dye, cosmetology and tailoring.

Investments in women's health are crucial for humanity's future, a US congresswoman has said.

Gambia could be free from female genital mutilation (FGM) by 2020, one of the country's leading campaigners has said.

Abimbola Fashola, wife of the Lagos State governor, has said that the key to improving the region's maternal and newborn health care is to share information.

Tanzanian publication the Daily News has issued an editorial calling for under-age marriages in the country to be outlawed.

The newspaper said, amid recent press reports, that more and more young girls were dropping out of school to get married and state progress to try to eradicate the practice is "painfully slow".

A doctor who has been monitoring female genital mutilation (FGM) in Cameroon has been speaking about the dehumanising effects and health hazards of the practice.

The Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria has stated that there were at least 11,600 maternal deaths in the country over the last three months - a figure that equates to around 45 cases a day.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised the British government it believes there is no evidence to suggest that the advanced forms of IVF are unsafe.

This means that the UK has taken a step closer to becoming the first country in the world to allow the creation of babies from three people.

Participants believe that plans to improve the health care on offer to women during the perinatal and neonatal periods in the Americas are developing well.