Maternal health

Her parents and friends did not understand from the beginning that the termination of the pregnancy was not her choice

L.D., aged 32, gave birth to twins by caesarean section in September. The midwives did not place the newborns on her chest, as is customary. There were other arms waiting for them with anxiety, love and emotion, a few floors above. Those of 37-year-old F.P. and her husband. They had been trying to become parents for years but one miscarriage followed another. F.P.

Ministers and senior policymakers across Asia and the Pacific are set to gather in Bangkok this week to focus on population dynamics at a crucial time for the region. Their goal is to keep people and rights at the heart of the region's push for sustainable development.

Refugees and migrants in Greece receive little or no medical care for most health problems they face and fewer than half of those pregnant had access to maternal care, aid group Doctors of the World said on Tuesday.

Prince William and his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, are expecting their third child. And for the third time - as with her previous two pregnancies - the former Kate Middleton is suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum, or severe morning sickness.

A joint inspection by UN children's agency UNICEF and the Ministry of Health begins on Monday in a bid to further reduce infections after the country was criticized for poor conditions in maternity units.

Norway ranks as the world's best place to be a mother, well ahead of the United States which dropped to the 33rd spot in the annual scorecard released by Save the Children on May 4.

Maternal deaths have fallen by 45% worldwide since 1990, statistics of the UN and the World Health Organization (WHO) show.

Over half a million women died during childbirth in 1990, while in 2013 the figure was 289,000.