Monday, December 5, 2011

Reforms of health care system in Kuwait

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 4: Plans are under way to set up an independent national health authority in Kuwait which will steer efforts to transform healthcare in the country, according to the Assistant Undersecretary for Planning and Quality in the Ministry of Health. Waleed Kh. Al-Falah told the global publishing, research and consultancy firm Oxford Business Group (OBG) that the Kuwait Health Authority will play a key role in overseeing major reforms earmarked for healthcare while also taking over some administrative functions from the Ministry. “We aim to develop a comprehensive health system in line with global trends,” he said. “Attention to health promotion and focusing on improving primary health care as a first point of entrance to the system is the most in-demand effective priority in the country.”

The move forms part of Kuwait’s broader plan to upgrade the quality of healthcare under the National Development Plan. It is also expected to bolster the country’s efforts to encourage public, private partnerships for health services expansion which include modernising existing facilities and building new hospitals and health centres. The interview forms part of the research for The Report: Kuwait 2012, OBG’s forthcoming guide on the State’s economic activity and investment opportunities. The Group’s latest report will include a detailed, sector-by-sector guide for foreign investors, together with a wide range of interviews with the most prominent political, economic and business leaders.

Al-Falah highlighted the Ministry’s success in increasing the number of Kuwaiti doctors working in the country, adding that plans were under way to drive forward a similar initiative in the nursing profession. “At present, there is a concentrated effort to increase the percentage of the national nursing workforce,” he said. “Incentives and opportunities are being introduced offering higher training and post graduate degrees in Western countries which are well known for their excellent training in the field of nursing.” He acknowledged that Kuwait could prove to be fertile territory for health tourism which was expanding rapidly on a global level, but said legal reforms would be needed before the country could begin exploring its potential. “Kuwait has great potential for attracting patients from neighbouring countries,” he said. “At present, however, the public sector cannot sell its services to individuals or private corporations. A review of current legislations would be needed to allow this.”

The Report: Kuwait 2012 will mark the culmination of more than nine months of on-the-ground research by a team of analysts from OBG. It will provide information on opportunities for foreign direct investment into the country’s economy and will act as a guide to the many facets of the country including its macroeconomics, infrastructure, banking and sectoral developments. The Report: Kuwait 2012 will be available in print form or online. Oxford Business Group (OBG) is a global publishing, research and consultancy firm, which publishes economic intelligence on the markets of the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Latin America Through its range of print and online products, OBG offers comprehensive and accurate analysis of macroeconomic and sectoral developments, including banking, capital markets, insurance, energy, transport, industry and telecoms.

The Report: Kuwait 2012 is produced in partnership with the Kuwait Foreign Investment Bureau, KAMCO, ASAR and Moore Stephens. The critically acclaimed economic and business reports have become the leading source of business intelligence on developing countries in the regions they cover. OBG’s online economic briefings provide up-to-date in-depth analysis on the issues that matter for tens of thousands of subscribers worldwide. OBG’s consultancy arm offers tailor-made market intelligence and advice to firms currently operating in these markets and those looking to enter them.
Source: Arab Times

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Can women deliver safely at home? Results of British study about the place of the birth

British Study: Half Of All Pregnant Women Could Give Birth At Home Safely
AP | Nov 25, 2011 12:09 PM EST

Comments (28)

LONDON -- A new study in England shows little difference in complications among the babies of women with low-risk pregnancies who delivered in hospitals versus those who gave birth with midwives at home or in birthing centers.
Based on the findings, researchers said women with uncomplicated pregnancies in England should be able to choose where they want to give birth – and one expert said about half of all pregnant women here could potentially safely give birth outside a hospital.
But they sounded a note of caution for first-time mothers and their infants, who may face a higher risk if they choose a home birth.
"I would never say women should give birth in a particular place, but hope this gives women more information to make an informed choice," said Dr. Peter Brocklehurst, director of the Institute for Women's Health at University College Hospital in London, one of the paper's lead authors. He conducted the research while at Oxford University.
"Birth isn't an abnormal process, it's a physiological process," he said. "And if your pregnancy and labor is not complicated, then you don't need a high level of specific expertise."
Brocklehurst added that about 50 percent of pregnant women in England – those who are low-risk – should be able to choose where to have their baby.
More than 90 percent of pregnant women in England now give birth in a hospital. Some officials say the new study should prompt women to consider alternatives.
"This is about giving women a choice," said Mary Newburn of NCT, a U.K. charity for parents, one of the study's authors. She said midwife-run birth centers in England have a more homelike environment, with privacy, sofas and birthing pools.
In Britain, midwives deliver more than 60 percent of babies already. Similar care is provided in the Netherlands, where about a quarter of all births happen at home. Elsewhere in Europe, most births are led by doctors, although midwives may also be involved.
In the United States, however, less than one percent of births happen at home. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists does not support planned home births and warns evidence shows they have a higher risk of newborn death compared to planned hospital births. The training of midwives in the U.S. varies by state – and some have no regulations.
Brocklehurst and colleagues collected data for nearly 65,000 mothers and babies between 2008 and 2010 in England. Of those, there were 19,706 births in hospital obstetric wards, 16,840 births at home, 11,282 births in "freestanding" midwifery units – independent clinics where there are no doctors or access to anesthetics – and 16,710 births in "alongside" midwifery units, often housed within hospitals.
All the pregnancies were low-risk, meaning the mothers were healthy and carried their baby to term. Women planning C-sections or expecting twins or multiple births were excluded from the study.
In the U.K.'s hospital obstetric wards, most low-risk women don't see a doctor during labor and are only treated by midwives.
There didn't appear to be a difference for the infants' health based on where the mothers planned to give birth.
But researchers found a higher risk for first-time mothers planning a home birth. Among those women, there were 9.3 adverse events per 1,000 births, including babies with brain damage due to labor problems and stillbirth. That compared to 5.3 adverse events per 1,000 births for those planning a hospital birth.
The study was published Friday in the medical journal, BMJ. It was paid for by Britain's department of health and another government health research body.
Dr. Tony Falconer, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists, said his group supports "appropriately selected home birth." He noted the higher risk of problems among first-time mothers choosing a home birth and said that raised questions about where they should deliver.
For Emily Shaw of Oxfordshire, northwest of London, giving birth in a hospital wasn't appealing. She wanted home births for both her sons but because her first baby was induced into labor, she had to deliver him in a hospital in October 2008.
Shaw delivered her second son at home in April. "I felt much more comfortable there," she said. "Instead of getting into a car to go to the hospital, the midwives came to me."
"It was nice to have the home comforts during labor," she added, saying she could eat in her own kitchen and use her own bathroom. "And unlike the hospital, they didn't kick out my partner in the middle of the night."
____

Monday, November 7, 2011

Effect of stress separation later in life

Postnatal Serotonin Type 2 Receptor Blockade Prevents the Emergence of Anxiety Behavior, Dysregulated Stress-Induced Immediate Early Gene Responses, and Specific Transcriptional Changes that Arise Following Early Life Stress
Madhurima Benekareddy, Krishna C. Vadodaria, Amrita R. Nair, Vidita A. Vaidya
Received 11 February 2011; received in revised form 26 July 2011; accepted 11 August 2011. published online 30 September 2011.

Abstract Full Text PDF Images References Supplemental Materials
Background
Early life adverse experience contributes to an enhanced vulnerability for adult psychopathology. Recent evidence indicates that serotonin type 2 (5-HT2) receptor function, implicated in the pathophysiology of mood and anxiety disorders, is significantly enhanced in the maternal separation model of early life stress. We examined whether postnatal 5-HT2 receptor blockade would prevent the consequences of maternal separation on anxiety behavior and dysregulated gene expression.

Methods
Control and maternally separated litters received treatment with the 5-HT2 receptor antagonist, ketanserin, or vehicle during postnatal life and were examined for effects on adult anxiety behavior, adult stress-induced immediate early gene expression responses, and transcriptional changes within the prefrontal cortex during postnatal life and in adulthood.

Results
Treatment with ketanserin during postnatal life blocked the long-lasting effects of maternal separation on anxiety behavior in the open field test and the elevated plus maze. Further, the dysregulated adult stress-induced expression pattern of the immediate early gene, Arc, observed in maternally separated animals was also prevented by postnatal ketanserin treatment. Ketanserin treatment normalized the alterations in the expression of specific genes in the prefrontal cortex of maternally separated animals, including changes in serotonin type 2A receptor messenger RNA expression during postnatal life and in genes associated with G-protein signaling in adulthood.

Conclusions
Postnatal treatment with the 5-HT2 receptor antagonist, ketanserin, blocked specific consequences of maternal separation, including anxiety behavior and dysregulated gene expression in the prefrontal cortex. Our results suggest that enhanced 5-HT2 receptor function may contribute to the emergence of anxiety behavior and perturbed stress responses following early life stress.

Key Words: Activity-regulated cytoskeletal-associated protein (Arc), habituation, immobilization stress, ketanserin, maternal separation, prefrontal cortex

Monday, October 31, 2011

Human development report 2011 by UN

Men Exceed Women – UN
Population Shoots Up
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 27, (KUNA): A UN report issued on Wednesday noted that the Kuwaiti male population exceeds the female population and that the population growth rate in the country is seen increasing at a rate of 2.4 percent in the period 2010-2015.
The report, entitled ‘State of the World Population 2011’, issued by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) said the Kuwaiti’s population (locals and residents) is now 2.8 million, and that the male population is 1.7 million, whereas the female population is only 1.1 million.
Globally, the report said that with the world population projected to reach 7 billion in five days’ time, actions taken now will decide whether the future will be healthy, sustainable and prosperous, or marked by inequalities, environmental decline and economic setbacks.
The world must seize the opportunity to invest in the health and education of its youth to reap the full benefits of future economic development, or else face a continuation of the sorry state of disparities in which hundreds of millions of people in developing nations lack the most basic ingredients for a decent life, UNFPA Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin warned in the foreword of the report.
The report noted that the record population size can be viewed in many ways as a success for humanity because it means people are living longer and more children are surviving worldwide. But not everyone has benefited from this achievement or the higher quality of life that this implies.
Great disparities exist among and within countries and in rights and opportunities between men and women, girls and boys, as evidenced by the fact that that 215 million women of child-bearing age in developing countries lack access to voluntary family planning.
“Our work is far from done,” Osotimehin said, suggesting that charting a path now to development that promotes equality rather than exacerbating or reinforcing inequalities is more important than ever. “We must tear down economic, legal and social barriers, to put women and men and boys and girls on an equal footing in all spheres of life.”
Source: Arab Times

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Words of wisdom

"Perhaps the greatest gift that women can give their daughters is to take precious care of their own lives—to develop their natural talents and to honor the opportunities that come their way. By so doing, they become vital models for their children as well as full women in their own right."

— Evelyn Bassoff

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Steam cells discovered in breast milk

UWA discovers 'ethical' embryonic-like stem cells in breast milk
Courtney Trenwith October 18, 2011

UWA PhD student Foteini Hassiotou has discovered stem cells can be obtained from breast milk.

Serious and fatal diseases such as pancreatic cancer, Parkinson's disease and diabetes may eventually be treated using stem cells from breast milk following a remarkable discovery at the University of Western Australia.
UWA PhD student Foteini Hassiotou has potentially broken through the greatest hurdle in stem cell research - the ability to ethically obtain stem cells in a non-invasive manner.
Her finding that stem cells from breast milk can be directed to become other body cell types such as bone, fat, liver and brain cells, could reduce the need to use embryonic stem cells and therefore fast-track future therapies.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Words of wisdom

"I can live with doubt and uncertainty and not knowing. I think it's much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers that might be wrong. [...] I don't feel frightened by not knowing things, by being lost in the mysterious universe without having any purpose."
Richard Feynman, phycist

Saturday, October 1, 2011

The silent knitting session or support of laboring woman by staying calm

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists recently came to the conclusion that too many babies are born in hospitals. In other words, according to the college, it would be beneficial to increase the number of out-of-hospital births (www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14145862). This would lead to a radical rethink of the selection and education of midwives. Outside hospitals, where women must rely entirely on the release of their natural hormones, the main preoccupation should be to protect the involuntary process of birth against situations that can inhibit it. Modern physiology can identify such situations, particularly those associated with a release of adrenaline, and those that stimulate the neocortex (the part of the brain highly developed among humans only).

The time is therefore ripe to underline the historical significance of one of the 27 workshops offered during the Mid-Pacific Conference on Birth and Primal Health Research (Honolulu, October 26–28, 2012). It will be called “The Silent Knitting Session.” The participants will realise at which point a repetitive task such as knitting (or, in Hawaii, making a wreath of flowers to be draped around the neck, for example) is an effective way to reduce the levels of adrenaline.

Since the release of adrenaline is highly contagious, the main preoccupation of an authentic midwife, after the paradigm shift, will be to maintain her own level of adrenaline as low as possible when she is close to a labouring woman. Midwives of the future will also need to train themselves to remain silent, since language is the most powerful stimulant of the neocortex. The silent knitting session will be a necessary step towards an understanding of what authentic midwifery is. We present it as the symbol of a vital new phase in the history of childbirth and midwifery.

— Michel Odent
midpacificonference@gmail.com
www.wombecology.com

Words of wisdom

"Midwives often forget that our beliefs in [mom’s] abilities can alter her accomplishments. It is important to check our hearts and push through any lack of belief that may inhibit her strengths. This may sound silly or ethereal, but I guarantee it can make a difference for a laboring mom and family."

— Carol Gautschi
Excerpted from “Getting to Second Stage,” Midwifery Today, Issue 98, Summer 2011
View table of contents / Order the back issue

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Cascade of Intervention in Childbirth

Source: Childbirth Connection

What is the "cascade of intervention?"

Many things in life have unintended effects: they may or may not have the effect that we want, and they may also have other unplanned and possibly unwanted effects.


Many maternity care interventions have unintended effects during labor and birth. Often these effects are new problems that are "solved" with further intervention, which may in turn create even more problems. This chain of events has been called the "cascade of intervention."

This chain of events can change the course of a woman's labor in important ways, yet women and their partners are often unaware that many routine interventions can lead to a cascade of unplanned experiences and unwanted side effects.

The maternity practices that can lead to a cascade of intervention include:

  • using various medications to induce labor
  • artificially breaking the membranes surrounding the baby and releasing amniotic fluid before or during labor
  • using synthetic oxytocin to hasten labor
  • giving medications for pain relief
  • using back-lying positions for labor or for birth.

Fear of Childbirth Increases Likelihood of C-Section, Study Suggests

Source: Science Daily

ScienceDaily (Sep. 23, 2011) — A new study published in the international journal Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica (AOGS) reveals that fear of childbirth is a predisposing factor for emergency and elective cesarean sections, even after psychological counseling. This may mean a negative experience that lasts a lifetime among the approximately 3% of women who in this study were estimated to suffer from excessive fear of childbirth.
Led by Professor Gunilla Sydsjo of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University Hospital in Linköping, Central Sweden, researchers analyzed the antenatal and delivery records of 353 women who were referred to a unit for psychosocial obstetrics and gynecology because of fear of childbirth, and 579 women without fear of childbirth.
The researchers found that fear of childbirth affected obstetric outcomes and increased the frequency of emergency and elective cesarean sections. Induction of delivery was more common among the women with fear of childbirth (16.5%) as compared to the women without this problem (9.6%). Women with fear of childbirth who were scheduled for vaginal delivery were more often delivered by emergency cesareans and they also more often requested elective cesarean delivery.
"Maximal effort is necessary to avoid traumatizing deliveries, ensure early recognition of women with traumatic birth experiences, and provide psychological treatment for fear of childbirth," Sydsjo concludes.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

How Dilated Am I? Assessing Dilation in Labor WITHOUT an Internal Exam.

Source: Sarah Vine

It’s the magic question weighing on most laboring mothers’ minds: (as well as the minds of her partner or birth attendants!) How much longer? Is there any way to tell how far along I am in the birthing process? I’ve seen mothers beg for an internal exam and then be gutted about the answer (What? ONLY 4cm STILL!?) and suddenly *poof* she looses her resolve. It’s akin to having a test and finding out you’ve failed it, in front of your loved ones as well as complete strangers. Everyone knows this feeling is not conducive to labor – suddenly doubt and fear slide in and the laboring mother feels tense. Her oxytocin levels (our body’s natural pain-killer and labor inducer) take a nose dive and immediately she feels much more pain and she starts to run away from the contractions.
Happily, there are a number of external cues that can help you and birth partners get clued in to how much labor is advancing. Some are more subtle than others, but if you are ignoring the clock and keeping focused on staying in tune with your body, you will see them. Listen, embrace, wait.  Enjoy the way it responds! It is amazing what it can do, this body that God gave you.
1. Sound. The way you talk changes from stage to stage in labor. With the first contractions, you can speak during them if you try, or if something surprises you, or if someone says something you strongly disagree with. You may be getting into breathing and moving and ignoring people – but if you really want to you can raise your head and speak in a normal voice. When the contraction disappears you can chat and laugh at people’s jokes and move about getting preparations done. During established labor, There is very little you can do to speak during a contraction. You feel like resting in between, you are not bothered what people are doing around you. As you near transition and birth, you seem to go to ‘another’ level of awareness – it’s almost like a spiritual hideaway. You may share this with someone else, staring into their eyes with each surge, or you may close them and go into yourself. In between surges you stay in this place. It is imperative for birth assistants and partners to stay quiet and support the sanctity of this space: there are no more jokes, and should be as little small talk as possible. Suddenly, the sounds start to change involuntarily: you may have been vocalizing before (moaning, talking and expressing your discomfort, singing, etc) or you may have been silent. Listen – there are deep gutteral sounds along with everything you have heard before, just slipping in there. You are about to start pushing.

Melatonin’s role in labor progress

Source: Birth Faith

In February of last year, I heard about a study that reaffirms what our mammal cousins have known instinctively for thousands of years… birth should happen in a dark, comfortable place. It also helps explain why most women go into labor in the middle of the night. And why so many labors slow down or stall in a hospital setting.

The study’s abstract says this in conclusion: “[Melatonin] synergizes with [oxytocin] to promote [uterine smooth muscle] contractions and to facilitate gap junction activity [in a controlled testing environment]. Such a synergy in [a living human] would promote coordinated and forceful contractions of the late term pregnant uterus necessary for [childbirth]” (Sharkey, Puttaramu, Word and Olcese, “Melatonin Synergizes with Oxytocin to Enhance Contractility of Human Myometrial Smooth Muscle Cells“).
I was absolutely stoked and fascinated when I read this. It makes complete sense! Melatonin is the hormone responsible for inducing sleep. Our bodies increase production of melatonin in darkness, and most humans’ melatonin levels peak in the wee hours of the morning. Daylight and artificial light reduce melatonin production.
In my excited melatonin frenzy, I did some quick internet browsing and discovered thatmeditation increases melatonin production. Some of the most effective coping strategies for labor are akin to meditation–progressive relaxation, hypnobirthing, visualization, breathing techniques–so it makes sense why they’re so helpful.
So… let’s just be logical here… if melatonin and oxytocin synergize to produce labor contractions, wouldn’t it make sense to do everything possible to keep melatonin levels high during childbirth?
And, let’s just be logical again… how well do you think a woman can “meditate” or use coping techniques when she’s…
1) In a sterile, cold, artificially bright, unfamiliar setting?
2) Having an IV inserted, being given forms to sign, or being asked irritating questions about her social security number mid-contraction?
3) Being relentlessly interrupted by hospital staff coming in and out, sticking their fingers inside of her?
Unfortunately, just about everything about a hospital makes it one of the worst possible places to facilitate childbirth progress. If you really want to facilitate the birth process, take a lesson from your pet cat. Turn off the lights! Get to a comfortable place. Do whatever you can to relax and get into a sleep-like meditative state. Let your body do what it already knows how to do. If/When it’s time to leave your dark/comfortable nest, take along some sunglasses and someone who can protect your birthing space from unnecessary distractions and interruptions.  Keep those melatonin levels high!
I love it when science discovers that nature was right all along.

Why Is Average IQ Higher in Some Places?

Source: Scientific American


Being smart is the most expensive thing we do. Not in terms of money, but in a currency that is vital to all living things: energy.  One study found that newborn humans spend close to 90 percent of their calories on building and running their brains. (Even as adults, our brains consume as much as a quarter of our energy.) If, during childhood, when the brain is being built, some unexpected energy cost comes along, the brain will suffer. Infectious disease is a factor that may rob large amounts of energy away from a developing brain. This was our hypothesis, anyway, when my colleagues, Corey Fincher and Randy Thornhill, and I published a paper on the global diversity of human intelligence.
A great deal of research has shown that average IQ varies around the world, both across nations and within them. The cause of this variation has been of great interest to scientists for many years. At the heart of this debate is whether these differences are due to genetics, environment or both.

Breastfeeding is Associated with Improved Child Cognitive Development: A Population-Based Cohort Study


Source: Science Direct 
Maria A. Quigley BA, MScaCorresponding Author Contact InformationE-mail The Corresponding Author, Christine Hockley BAa, Claire Carson BSc, MSc, PhDa, Yvonne Kelly BSc, PhDb, Mary J. Renfrew RGN, SCM, DN, BSc, PhDc, Amanda Sacker BSc, PhDb
aNational Perinatal Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
bInstitute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex, Essex, United Kingdom
cMother and Infant Research Unit, University of York, York, United Kingdom
Received 12 February 2011; revised 31 May 2011; Accepted 23 June 2011. Available online 11 August 2011.

Objective

To assess the association between breastfeeding and child cognitive development in term and preterm children.

Study design

We analyzed data on white singleton children from the United Kingdom Millennium Cohort Study. Children were grouped according to breastfeeding duration. Results were stratified by gestational age at birth: 37 to 42 weeks (term, n = 11 101), and 28 to 36 weeks (preterm, n = 778). British Ability Scales tests were administered at age 5 years (naming vocabulary, pattern construction, and picture similarities subscales).

Results

The mean scores for all subscales increased with breastfeeding duration. After adjusting for confounders, there was a significant difference in mean score between children who were breastfed and children who were never breastfed: in term children, a two-point increase in score for picture similarities (when breastfed ≥4 months) and naming vocabulary (when breastfed ≥6 months); in preterm children, a 4-point increase for naming vocabulary (when breastfed ≥4 months) and picture similarities (when breastfed ≥2 months) and a 6-point increase for pattern construction (when breastfed ≥2 months). These differences suggest that breastfed children will be 1 to 6 months ahead of children who were never breastfed.

Conclusions

In white, singleton children in the United Kingdom, breastfeeding is associated with improved cognitive development, particularly in children born preterm.

Hospital staff quizzed over deaths of women after giving birth

Source: Arab News

By ARAB NEWS
JEDDAH: A five-member panel set up by Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah is questioning 16 doctors, nurses and technicians at a government maternity and children’s hospital in Jeddah for allegedly causing the deaths of two Saudi women soon after they gave birth.
Relatives of the two women accused the hospital staff of negligence and urged authorities to take action against them. According to informed sources, one woman died because she was prescribed the wrong medicine while the other due to a blood infection.
Hospital authorities had handed over the women’s bodies to their relatives without informing them of the real reasons for their deaths. Foreign doctors involved in the case have been banned from traveling abroad until investigations are completed.
Majed Al-Sulami, husband of one victim, said the death of his wife, who is mother of two girls, has turned his life upside down. “I took her to hospital last month when she had labor pains and doctors told me that she would have a natural delivery. After a few hours they gave me the good news that a baby boy had been born. Half an hour later, they asked me to sign a paper authorizing an emergency surgery to remove her uterus because of internal bleeding,” he said. But her condition went from bad to worse after the operation.

Afro-american and white twins born

Source: BBC
Check out video about twins born white and afro-american

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Spot the fake smile!


Source: BBC

Test your self taking Spot the fake smile test. Can you say genuine smile from the fake one? Complete the test consisting of 20 guesses and  see your results!

A girl smiling

Most people are surprisingly bad at spotting fake smiles. One possible explanation for this is that it may be easier for people to get along if they don't always know what others are really feeling.
Although fake smiles often look very similar to genuine smiles, they are actually slightly different, because they are brought about by different muscles, which are controlled by different parts of the brain.
Fake smiles can be performed at will, because the brain signals that create them come from the conscious part of the brain and prompt the zygomaticus major muscles in the cheeks to contract. These are the muscles that pull the corners of the mouth outwards.

One World Birth

Would you like to know what the most renewed experts in field of maternity health & services say? Check this!
Source : One World Birth



Welcome to One World Birth

One World Birth is a free video resource about birth issues aimed at professionals, campaigners and parents who want to keep their finger on the pulse of what is happening in birth today.
Our dream is that this project will help inspire individuals all around the world to connect, share ideas and shout for change where change is needed. We want birth experts who are at the front line of current thinking and research to empower parents with their knowledge and wisdom so that they feel confident to make the choices that are right for them and have the birth that they deserve.
One World Birth

Midwives Save Lives - global petition

Source: International Confederations of Midwives

ICM has  has joined forces with our partners White Ribbon Alliance and global campaigning charity Save the Children to call on heads of state around the world to increase midwifery resources for education, recruitment and retention.
Over the past two months we have gathered over 5000 signatures in 76 countries, asking governments to commit to increased investment in midwifery education and employment. Copies of the petition are now being handed over to government leaders to help raise the profile of the life saving role of midwives and to generate as much public and political support as possible, before the United Nations General Assembly. 
Petition handovers around the world
In the UK, ICM President Frances Day-Stirk (right) and representatives from WRA and Save the Children handed the petition over to Minister for Development Stephen O'Brien.
In Uganda the Midwifery Association and WRA representatives met with Parliamentary representatives and secured national commitments to increased investment in midwifery

Why men's ring fingers are longer than their index fingers

Source: Breaking Science News

Biologists at the University of Florida have found a reason why men's ring fingers are generally longer than their index fingers — and why the reverse usually holds true for women.
The finding could help medical professionals understand the origin of behavior and disease, which may be useful for customizing treatments or assessing risks in context with specific medical conditions.
Writing this week in the , developmental biologists Martin Cohn, Ph.D., and Zhengui Zheng, Ph.D., of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the department of molecular genetics and microbiology at the UF College of Medicine, show that male and female digit proportions are determined by the balance of sex hormones during early embryonic development. Differences in how these hormones activate receptors in males and females affect the growth of specific digits.
The discovery provides a genetic explanation for a raft of studies that link finger proportions with traits ranging from sperm counts, aggression, musical ability, sexual orientation and sports prowess, to health problems such as autism, depression, heart attack and breast cancer.

Breastfeeding Protects Against SIDS

Source: Medpage Today
Breastfeeding may substantially reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), especially when breast milk is the sole nutritional source, a meta-analysis showed.

Any breastfeeding was associated with an independent 45% reduction in risk of SIDS, Fern R. Hauck, MD, MS, of the University of Virginia School of Medicine in Charlottesville, and colleagues reported in the July issue of Pediatrics
.
Breastfeeding as the sole source of nutrition for any duration was associated with a 73% reduction in SIDS (summary odds ratio 0.27, 95% confidence interval 0.24 to 0.31).
This advantage adds to the many infant and maternal benefits of breastfeeding, the researchers noted.
"The recommendation to breastfeed infants should be included with other SIDS risk-reduction messages," the researchers recommended in the paper.

"Ideally, breastfeeding should be exclusive (ie, formula should not be given) for at least four to six months and should be continued until the infant is at least 1 year of age," Hauck's group suggested in concordance with American Academy of Pediatrics' guidelines for six months of exclusive breastfeeding and continuation through age 1 year.

Other factors linked in epidemiologic studies to lower risk of SIDS, such as pacifier use and keeping the baby in the same room but not the same bed as the mother, do not necessarily run counter to promoting breastfeeding, they noted.

KIngdom of Saudi Arabia is opening registration for Midwifery Programme


Source: Al Medina
Armed forces hospital in Ryadh , Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is opening registration for Midwifery programme. This programme is the only one of its kind in the Kingdom and started in 2006.
واس - الرياض
ينظم قسم النساء والولادة بمستشفى القوات المسلحة بالرياض (برنامج القبالة) في السابع عشر من ذي القعدة القادم. وأوضح رئيس قسم النساء والولادة في المستشفى العميد طبيب سلطان بن محمد السلطان أن هذا البرنامج بدأ منذ عام 2006م وهو الوحيد على مستوى المملكة، مشيرًا إلى أن الهدف من إقامة هذا البرنامج تقديم الرعاية الصحية الشاملة للأم أثناء فترة الحمل والولادة وما بعد الولادة والتعرف على المضاعفات التي تواجه الأم والطفل أثناء الحمل والولادة وما بعدها ووضع خطط الرعاية الصحية الشاملة (الجسمانية - النفسية - الاجتماعية) وفقًا لاحتياجات الأم والطفل، إضافة لتخريج سعوديات متخصصات ذات كفاءة علمية وسريرية لتغطية النقص العام في هذا التخصص الحيوي.