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BACKGROUD:Zambia has a high maternal mortality ratio of 591/100 000 live births with unsafe abortions being one of the major causes. Adolescents and young women are particularly vulnerable to unsafe induced abortion with its complications. It has been estimated that widespread use of emergency...

Background: Family planning is a key component of reproductive health and is one of the effective interventions in reducing maternal and infant mortality. Despite family planning activities having started in the 1960s in Zambia, the contraceptive utilization rate is only 34.2%. One of the reasons...

Background: In most developed countries HIV testing, use of antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) and modification of feeding practices have greatly reduced the rate of mother to child transmission (MTCT) of HIV-1 though this is not the case in many African countries. In Zambia, prevention of mother to...

Background: Pap smear is a screening test used to examine cells from cervix and vagina to determine whether there is evidence of precancerous changes or cancer. Cervical cancer is a major public health problem in the world, and it is a leading cause of cancer deaths in the third world. Cervical...

Maternal mortality in developed countries has declined dramatically over the last 60 years, and is now very low. Women in industrialized countries have an average lifetime risk of dying from pregnancy-related causes of between 1 in 4000 and 1 in 10,000 pregnancies whereas women in developing...

The teenage period is between 12 and 19 years. Pregnancy in the teenager poses special social, psycological and medical risks both to the mother and her offsping. Because of the physical, physiological and emotional immaturity of the adolescent period, pregnant teenagers are prone to developing...

The rate of caesarean section has been increasing in the last fifty years. A previous caesarean section has also steadily become a leading indication to perform a caesarean section. With the realization that caesarean section has got its own risks, and the strain on medical costs, the strategy...

The unripe cervix sometimes presents a real problem when induction of labour is indicated.The efficacy and safety of the balloon catheter in preinduction cervical ripening is evaluated in the study. The balloon catheter was used in 66 patients at term with a mean pre-catheter Bishop Score of 2.8...

The increasing number of women infected with HIV as demonstrated by the sentinel antenatal surveillance system is believed to be an important factor in the worsening maternal mortality being witnessed in Lusaka. By 1989, HIV/AIDS was already believed to have been the cause of a few maternal...