Maternal and Newborn Health Research Roundup – March 2025

1.

Pregnant women as a sentinel population for genomic surveillance of malaria in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: a population-based study 

A population-based study in the Democratic Republic of the Congo explored whether pregnant women attending antenatal care services could serve as an effective sentinel population for malaria surveillance, particularly for detecting changes in drug susceptibility in children. Conducted in Kinshasa, the study found that malaria prevalence was higher in children (49%) compared to pregnant women (19%), but both groups shared similar frequencies of gene variants, including drug resistance markers. Pregnant women did not have higher frequencies of sulfadoxine–pyrimethamine resistant haplotypes, which undermine preventative treatments, and the complexity of infection was similar to that in children. The findings suggest that pregnant women may be an efficient cohort for malaria genomic surveillance, offering a cost-effective alternative to targeting children, while also benefiting from early diagnosis and treatment. This approach could help improve surveillance systems in high-burden malaria areas. (March 2025) 

2.

Spatial variation, pooled prevalence, and factors associated with perinatal mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa, evidence from demographic and health surveys 2015–2023: a geospatial regression approach 

A recent geospatial regression study aimed to assess pooled prevalence, spatial variation, and factors contributing to perinatal mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Using data from 25 SSA countries, the study found a pooled prevalence of 46.63 per 1000 births, with significant hot spots in Nigeria, Madagascar, Rwanda, Malawi, Burundi, Gambia, Uganda, Côte d’Ivoire, Angola, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, and Senegal, and cold spots in Kenya, Gabon, South Africa, Ghana, Mali, and Mauritania. The study identified significant spatial predictors of perinatal mortality, including no antenatal care visits, birth intervals less than 15 months, cesarean section deliveries, unemployment among women, and households without children. The research highlights the importance of improving antenatal care, family planning, and women’s employment opportunities as critical priorities to reduce perinatal mortality in SSA. (March 2025)

3.

Artificial intelligence assisted identification of newborn auricular deformities via smartphone application 

A recent study developed an artificial intelligence (AI) model to identify and classify common auricular deformities in newborns using photos taken with mobile devices. The model, trained on over 3,800 auricle images, was evaluated with four different backbone architectures (i.e., ResNet50, DenseNet121, EfficientNet, and RegNet) and comparative analyses with human volunteers. Results indicate a 0.83–0.85 accuracy for six-class and 0.94–0.98 for binary classification in internal tests, with ResNet50 performing most consistently. Multi-center validation showed 0.74–0.82 accuracy for six-class and 0.79–0.86 for normal/abnormal classification, demonstrating strong generalizability, while professionals outperformed volunteers and laypeople in accuracy. The findings demonstrate the AI model’s potential as an efficient, cost-effective tool for early diagnosis, monitoring treatment, and educational purposes, addressing the need for timely intervention in managing auricular deformities. (March 2025) 

4.

Outcomes of a program to reduce birth-related mortality in Tanzania 

A recent three-year stepped-wedge cluster-randomized study conducted in 30 high-burden facilities in Tanzania evaluated the Safer Births Bundle of Care program, which aimed to reduce birth-related mortality through a combination of interventions to improve quality of care. The package of interventions included onsite individual skills training and facilitated team simulations (using Helping Babies Breathe and Helping Mothers Survive Bleeding after Birth Complete 2.0 scenarios), weekly collection and use of local data to guide quality improvement supported by local and regional facilitators, novel devices to monitor fetal and infant heart rate and improve ventilation, and efforts to improve sustainability and scalability of the package. The study observed a reduction in perinatal death rates, from 15.3 to 12.5 deaths per 1,000 births. While the incidence of intrapartum stillbirths remained stable, neonatal deaths within the first 24 hours after birth decreased from 6.4 to 3.9 deaths per 1,000 births. These findings reinforce that investments in facilitator-led training, simulated team practice, and regular use of clinical data to support quality improvement in high-burden, resource-limited settings can significantly lower perinatal mortality. (26 February 2025) 

5.

Comparative effectiveness of daily therapeutic supplementation with multiple micronutrients and iron-folic acid versus iron-folic acid alone in children with mild-to-moderate anaemia in rural India: an open-label, randomised controlled trial   

A recent open-label randomized controlled trial in Haryana, India, assessed the effects of iron-folic acid supplementation with and without multiple micronutrients on mild-to-moderate anaemia in children aged 6-59 months. Despite supplementing with additional micronutrients, the results showed no significant difference in haemoglobin concentration or cure rates between the two groups after 90 days. Both groups had similar rates of anaemia recovery, with 80% of children in the iron-folic acid plus micronutrients group and 79% in the iron-folic acid alone group cured of anaemia. The study concluded that adding multiple micronutrients to iron-folic acid supplementation did not offer additional benefits, suggesting that improving compliance with iron-folic acid alone could be an effective strategy for addressing mild-to-moderate anaemia in young children. (March 2025) 

6.

Maternal and neonatal outcomes at delivery in nulliparous women with advanced maternal age 

A new study published in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth examines the maternal and neonatal outcomes in nulliparous women with advanced maternal age (AMA). The research, which analyzed data from 44,295 women, found that those aged 35 and older were significantly more likely to undergo cesarean sections, often by self-request, compared to younger women. Interestingly, AMA did not increase the risk of postpartum hemorrhage and was associated with fewer instrumental deliveries and third- and fourth-degree tears. However, the study highlighted a higher risk of intrauterine fetal demise among AMA women. These findings suggest that obstetric management for AMA patients should be individualized, emphasizing shared decision-making to mitigate risks. (11 March 2025)