Although testing for CMV during pregnancy isn’t routine and there isn’t universal screening for infants, there are steps pregnant people can take to protect themselves and their newborns.
Research shows that uninsured people are more likely to get care later in pregnancy, and less care overall. This increases risks for mothers and babies.
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Discontinuing expanded health-care funding will result in less prenatal care for uninsured patients, more health risks, higher costs to the health system, and moral distress for health-care providers.
Results of a new study show the need for more, easily accessible mental health and social support services for pregnant and postpartum people and their families.
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Being pregnant and giving birth during the pandemic meant disruptions in pregnancy care and birth experiences, as well as detrimental effects on mental health and birth outcomes.
Local and national governments in west and central African countries must prioritise investment in providing access to HIV testing for all pregnant women.
Water carriage is associated with pain, fatigue and violence against vulnerable people.
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The importance of accessing water that’s safe to drink and enough for washing, cleaning and cooking is clear, but little attention has been given to the safety of water collection away from home.
Although polyamorous families provide great support for themselves internally, they report experiencing marginalization within the health-care system and fear of judgment by health-care providers.
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Having multiple romantic partners also offers greater financial and logistical support when raising children, according to research with polyamorous families.
The system of ‘birth alerts’ across Canada perpetuates the removal of children from Indigenous families begun by residential schools. Pictured here: a historical report on residential schools released by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
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To make meaningful progress on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action, all provinces and territories should promptly follow B.C. and ban discriminatory ‘birth alerts.’
Only one third of women in Madagascar get prenatal care in the first trimester.
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The benefits of midwifery for women and babies globally are clear. In Canada, innovations in midwifery centres and services are tempered by low pay and high rates of burnout.
Approximately 11 per cent of Canadian mothers report consuming alcohol during pregnancy, which can cause fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) in their children.
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With an estimated prevalence of four per cent, fetal alcohol syndrome disorder (FASD) is more common than autism. And yet is it surrounded by myth and stigma.
A study published in the British Medical Journal Open reports that midwifery patients were 41 per cent less likely to have a small-for-gestational-age baby compared to patients of obstetricians.
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New research shows that midwifery care is not just for the wealthy – it has health and cost benefits for vulnerable women and provincial governments must act to increase their access.
Professor, Department of Community Health and Epidemiology and Director, Saskatchewan Population Health and Evaluation Research Unit, University of Saskatchewan