The Ninth Month

In Tondo, a Manila slum, poor families live and work in the charcoal fields, where rent is free.

Why contraception might be a way out of poverty for Filipino families

The Philippines has one of the highest birth rates in Asia. But recently, the government passed a law, over the strenuous objections of the Catholic Church, that paved the way for providing free contraception. Reporter Aurora Almendral speaks with one woman, a grandmother at 33, about how free birth control could change the lives of the country's poorest.

Why contraception might be a way out of poverty for Filipino families

Birth Stories Without Borders

Birth Stories Without Borders
Abortion in Ethiopia — Khadija's hands

Doctors in Ethiopia are looking past their religious beliefs on abortions to save lives

Doctors in Ethiopia are looking past their religious beliefs on abortions to save lives
Gilda Maviango, right, and grandmother Salfina with Gilda's baby

Photos show the struggles women in Mozambique face getting health care

Photos show the struggles women in Mozambique face getting health care
Irma Vásquez, far right, during a Centering Pregnancy session at San Francisco's Homeless Prenatal Program, which collaborates with San Francisco General Hospital and offers space for the meetings.

For some, prenatal care is a community affair

For some, prenatal care is a community affair
HSPH Forum

Delaying pregnancy in the US and around the world

In a new report, the CDC has confirmed that the average age at which American women deliver their first babies has increased in the last 40 years. The World and The Forum at the Harvard School of Public Health team up this week to discuss the repercussions of delaying pregnancy and parenthood in the United States and around the world.

Delaying pregnancy in the US and around the world
A pregnant woman

In Brazil, half of all mothers have C-sections — whether they want it or not

Many women in Brazil want to deliver their babies by Cesarean section — for them, it is convenient, modern and clean. But others say they are forced into delivering their babies through surgery, in a country with one of the highest c-section rates in the world.

In Brazil, half of all mothers have C-sections — whether they want it or not
Kate Mitchell undergoes a cesarean section

Why are Cesarean sections so common when most agree they shouldn’t be?

Last year, Kate Mitchell became one of the 32 percent of US mothers who give birth via Cesarean section. Yet her intention was to avoid a C-section. Guidelines released in February outline steps to avoid unnecessary Cesarean sections, steps that hospitals and practitioners agree with. So why do Cesarean rates remain at all-time highs?

Why are Cesarean sections so common when most agree they shouldn’t be?
A newborn baby rests on a blanket just a few hours after being born.

More mothers are choosing 'home' when deciding where they want to give birth

Births started in homes, moved to hospitals and are now moving back to homes, at least in the developed world. More parents are choosing places that aren't hospitals for giving birth — and that presents new risks and complications.

More mothers are choosing 'home' when deciding where they want to give birth
Fatima Haroon, a pregnant woman in Pakistan

What if your mother-in-law decided when you got pregnant?

In Pakistan, family planning is often a family decision. If a woman wants to go on birth control, her mother-in-law may cast the deciding vote.

What if your mother-in-law decided when you got pregnant?
A Janani Express ambulance. Janani means “mother” in Hindi, and the ambulance service transports pregnant women to health centers to give birth.

How a simple van in India can save a mother’s life

What do you do if you're a pregnant woman in rural India, you go into labor, and you have no means of getting to the hospital? Janani Express provides an answer.

How a simple van in India can save a mother’s life
Pregnant clockwise in Chinese, Georgian, Portuguese, Thai, Afrikaans,  Albanian, Hebrew, Spanish, Russian.

Do the words we use to describe pregnancy reveal our feelings toward it?

In Russian, the word for “pregnant” can mean “burdensome.” In Chinese, “pregnant” appears to imply “happiness.” But be careful reading too much meaning into these words, say linguists.

Do the words we use to describe pregnancy reveal our feelings toward it?
A woman rests next to her baby outside Kuala Lumpur.

Lullabies are not only for children, they're for adults, too

Lullabies are just a part of parenting, and growing up. We spoke with Kathy Henderson, collector of lullabies from around the world. It's part of our "Ninth Month" series on pregnancy and childbirth. And try out The World's Lullabies app — where you can join others in recording, sharing and listening to lullabies from different regions of the globe.

Lullabies are not only for children, they're for adults, too
A mother and baby

Share your lullaby with the world

As part of The Ninth Month, PRI.org is inviting you to share the lullabies your remember best. Was it one you sung to your own child? Or maybe one your remember your mom singing to a sibling. Share a link to a video or even sing right into your computer.

Share your lullaby with the world
Ninth Month South Africa video

Video: HIV-positive and pregnant, a mother-to-be strives for a healthy child

Children born to mothers infected with the AIDS virus are at risk for becoming infected themselves. One pregnant South African woman is determined that her child will be born free of HIV.

Video: HIV-positive and pregnant, a mother-to-be strives for a healthy child
Notebook

Scarred by childbirth, mothers are finding help to heal and start over

Hundreds of thousands of women in sub-Saharan Africa suffer from a complication that leaves them incontinent and often shamed after childbirth. But there's help for women to heal both physically and emotionally — and it's working for one mother in Malawi.

Scarred by childbirth, mothers are finding help to heal and start over
Senegal birth spacing

Why Senegal wants families to put more space between their children

Just one month after giving birth to her first child, nineteen-year-old Aissatou Tine became pregnant again. Now she and her young son are dealing with the consequences.

Why Senegal wants families to put more space between their children