International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

Steps taken by Vietnam to improve its child mortality rate as part of its Millennium Development Goals have proven highly successful, the country's Ministry of Health has claimed.

Child survival rates in Gambia have increased thanks to improvements in healthcare provision, an official has stated.

According to Her Excellency Aja Dr Isatou Njie-Saidy, vice president and women's affairs minister, primary healthcare posts are now located within five kilometers of 85 per cent of people in the country, the Daily Observer reports.

Mothers in South Africa have been advised to breastfeed their child in order to boost their chances of survival.

According to Professor Dave Saunders, director of the University of the Western Cape's School of Public Health, this can reduce the mortality rate among under-fives by more than one-tenth, Health-e reports.

Unicef has outlined a number of methods which could help to curb the spread of HIV/Aids in Uganda.

According to the organisation, testing mothers and babies could form part of a wider effort to get the number of new infections down to zero.

Insufficient maternal and newborn healthcare provision in one area of the Central African Republic (CAR) is leading to many children dying early.

According to Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders (MSF), children accounted for nearly half of those people who died in the Ouham prefecture while it carried out a two-week survey in April.

A government official in Nigeria has warned women's health is being put at risk too frequently during childbirth.

According to Dr Jide Idris, commissioner for health in Lagos, an "unacceptable" number of females are dying when giving birth, the Nigerian Tribune reports.

Babies carried by adolescent females are in more danger of dying than those born to women in their 20s, experts have warned.

According to Save the Children, young mums give birth to approximately one million babies around the world every year.

Unicef has staged a special event designed to promote maternal and newborn health across the world.

The organisation is keen to get countries stepping up their efforts to curb the number of "preventable" deaths among children.

Pregnant women have been encouraged to get professional advice if they have any concerns about how much alcohol they can drink.

Research published in the BJOG journal has concluded that moderate alcohol consumption during pregnancy will not impede the neurodevelopment of a child.

Breast milk may contain ingredients that could curb the spread of HIV/Aids, a new study has suggested.