BACKGROUND Few previous studies have examined non-wealth-based inequalities in child mortality within developing countries. This study estimates changes in under-5-year-olds  and neonatal mortality in Nepal across a range of subnational levels, which allows us to assess the degree of equity in Nepal's progress towards Millennium Development Goal 4. METHODS Direct estimates of under-5-year-old...

OBJECTIVE We sought to systematically review the medical literature on the maternal and newborn safety of planned home vs planned hospital birth. STUDY DESIGN We included English-language peer-reviewed publications from developed Western nations reporting maternal and newborn outcomes by planned delivery location. Outcomes' summary odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were calculated. ...

BACKGROUND While progress has been made in reducing neonatal mortality in Guatemala, stillbirth and maternal mortality rates remain high, especially among the indigenous populations, which have among the highest adverse pregnancy-related mortality rates in Guatemala. METHODS We conducted a prospective study in the Western Highlands of Guatemala from 2010 through 2013, enrolling women during p...

BACKGROUND Knowledge of the relation between health-system factors and child mortality could help to inform health policy in low-income and middle-income countries. We aimed to quantify modifiable health-system factors and their relation with provincial-level heterogeneity in under-5, infant, and neonatal mortality over time in Mozambique. METHODS Using Demographic and Health Survey (2003 and...

INTRODUCTION Neonatal respiratory distress (NRD) is a main cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality in developing countries. Early detection of its risk factors and early treatment of its etiologies are major challenges. However, few studies in developing countries have provided data needed to tackle it. We aimed to determine the prevalence, predictors, etiologies and outcome of NRD in a terti...

BACKGROUND Kenya abolished delivery fees in all public health facilities through a presidential directive effective on June 1, 2013 with an aim of promoting health facility delivery service utilization and reducing pregnancy-related mortality in the country. This paper aims to provide a brief overview of this policy's effect on health facility delivery service utilization and maternal mortality...

materials and methods the level of plasma il-6 and blood culture were checked in all the term neonates suspicious to sepsis admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit of shahid beheshti hospital of kashan during 2010-2011. positive blood culture was considered as definite sepsis and negative blood culture as suspicious sepsis. then, the level of il-6 was compared with the state of blood cultu...

Background Mortality is one of the indicators of community health and reflects the social, economic and environmental status of the residence of people. In this regard, countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) have many problems. Therefore, this study was con...

Introduction: Neonatal mortality is an obstacle to the continued step down of under-five mortality and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goal four. In Ethiopia, the neonatal mortality rate is decreased from 49 in 2000 to 39 deaths per 1000 live births in 2005, remaining stable at 37 deaths per 1000 live births in 2011 accounting for about 42% of under-five mortality. The aim of the s...