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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.