Maternal and Child Health Topics and Issues

Breastfeeding: Breastfeeding is the process of feeding a mother’s breast milk to her infant, usually directly from the breast.  Breast milk possesses all the nutrients babies need for good health and growth. It provides an infant with essential calories, vitamins and minerals proper development. Breastfeeding also offers health benefits for mothers by lowering the risk of breast cancer, ovarian cancer and help prevent several diseases. Breastfeeding is recommended up to 6 months of age with continued breastfeeding along with baby foods up to two years of age. Read more here.

Still Birth: Stillbirth is when after 20 weeks of pregnancy a baby dies in the womb. Most stillbirths happen before a woman goes into labour. There are some risk factors to be aware of to help prevent a stillbirth from happening.  Some of these risk factors include smoking, consuming drugs and alcohol, being obese, or have high blood pressure. To learn more about stillbirths and the risk factors involved, click here.

Breech Baby: If a baby is in a breech position, this means that the baby is in a bottom-down position. When labour begins, the natural position babies lay is head down in the uterus; however a breech position is when a baby will settle into a bottom first position. Read more here.

Rainbow Baby: A rainbow baby is a baby that is born following a miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal death or infant loss. The rainbow symbolizes hope and comfort, acknowledging both the baby that passed away and the newborn baby.  The rainbow ensures the mother that there is always hope after the storm of grief. Read more here.

Pre-eclampsia: Pre-eclampsia is thought to happen when the placenta isn’t working properly. Pre-eclampsia is characterized by high blood pressure, swelling that happens suddenly and is perhaps accompanied by rapid weight gain in the second half of pregnancy, and protein in the urine. Since it reduces the flow of blood to the placenta, it can be quite dangerous for your unborn baby. Read more here.

Home vs. Hospital deliveries: A home birth means just that—delivering your baby outside of a hospital, and in your own home. Choosing this route still requires the assistance of a qualified professional. Some pros to a home birth are that you may be able to avoid unnecessary medical interventions common in hospital births. Another is that there may be lower delivery costs. Some cons to consider before having a home birth is that there is usually no pain relief or epidural available if birthing at home. Another to consider is that most insurance policies will not cover home birth expenses.

A hospital birth is the delivering of your baby in a hospital setting, knowing they are surrounded by medical professionals in the event of an emergency. Some pros to delivering a baby in a hospital is that depending on your medical coverage, your entire birth may be covered by insurance. Another would be that if complications should arise, you have immediate medical assistance with the most advanced technology. With regards, to cons, some to consider is that hospitals often set a time limit on how long they will allow a woman to labor before using intervention. Another is that sometimes hospitals have strict policies, protocols, and procedures that they must follow, which means you will, too. Read more here.

Fibroids: Fibroids are the most frequently seen tumors of the female reproductive system. Fibroids, also known as uterine myomas, leiomyomas, or fibromas, are firm, compact tumors that are made of smooth muscle cells and fibrous connective tissue that develop in the uterus. It is estimated that between 20 to 50 percent of women of reproductive age have fibroids. Read more here.

Postpartum Depression: Postpartum depression is depression that may start during pregnancy or at any time up to a year after the birth of a child.  Signs of depression include feeling sad, worthless, hopeless, guilty, or anxious a lot of the time. Some feel irritable or angry. A mother or father with postpartum depression may not enjoy the baby and have frequent thoughts that they’re a bad parent. They may also have scary thoughts around harming themselves or their baby. Read more here.

Malnutrition: Malnutrition refers to deficiencies, excesses or imbalances in a person’s intake of energy or nutrients. The term malnutrition covers 2 broad groups of conditions. One is undernutrition which includes stunting, wasting, underweight and micronutrient deficiencies or insufficiencies. The other is overweight, obesity and diet-related noncommunicable diseases (such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer). Read more here.

Undernutrition: Undernutrition can be defined as the outcome of insufficient food intake and repeated infectious diseases. When a child is undernourished, they can no longer maintain growth, resisting infections and recover from disease or learn. Undernutrition includes being underweight for one’s age, to short or thin. They are also deficient in vitamins and minerals. Read more here.

Child Mortality: Child mortality is defined as the death of children and infants under the age of five years old. Many of the causes of child deaths are from preventable diseases or conditions including malnutrition, lack of safe drinking water, disease and infection.  In many developing countries there are increased child mortality rates from lack of services to support adequate living conditions. Read more here. 

Pre and ante natal care: Prenatal care, also known as antenatal care is a type of preventive healthcare, with the goal of providing regular check-ups that allow doctors or midwives to treat and prevent potential health problems throughout the course of the pregnancy while promoting healthy lifestyles that benefit both mother and child. Read more here.