BACKGROUND: There is worldwide debate about the appropriateness of caesarean sections performed without medical indications. In this analysis, we aim to further investigate the relationship between caesarean section without medical indication and severe maternal outcomes. METHODS: This is a...

"This book addresses the main issues facing women during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. It also explores new techniques, tools, and solutions that can be used in a global capacity to support women regardless of their wealth or location"--Provided by publisher.

We provide estimates of impacts on maternal mortality of swings in US aid for family planning and maternal health driven by switches in implementation of the Global Gag Rule (GGR) with US Presidential Party. The GGR is a pro-life policy that prohibits aid to overseas non-governmental...

This study reassessed the progress achieved since 1990 in maternal and child mortality indicators to test whether the progress is converging or diverging across countries worldwide. The convergence process is examined using standard parametric and non-parametric econometric models of...

Cancer is exacting severe costs from societies that are wholly unprepared to address it, and this toll will become even heavier in future years. By 2020, cancer is expected to kill more than twice as many people worldwide as it did at the turn of the millennium. In low- and middle-income...

As a partnership amongst governments, civil society, the private sector and communities, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the “Global Fund”) represents an innovation in the mechanisms for international health financing. This article examines the innovative features of...