Monthly Archives: May 2019

How does family history affect the risk of preterm birth?

Women born preterm are known to be at higher risk of themselves giving birth preterm, but the role of family history on this risk factor is not understood. A new study in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth has addressed this using a sibling design to study the risk of giving birth preterm in women with sisters born preterm. In this blog post, the lead author of the study answers some questions about this study.

Health Medical Evidence

Culled foxes are dead, but not gone: No evidence for lowered predation risk after uncoordinated fox culls.

The culling of mammalian mesopredators is often justified by alleged conservation benefits for a target prey species. A recent study in BMC Ecology demonstrates that uncoordinated culls may often fail to achieve such benefits, despite subjectively high culling effort. This is the issue we tackled in a recent research project using fox culls in fragmented montane forests as a study system.

Biology

Highlights of the BMC Series: March 2019

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A new section in BMC Anesthesia open for submissions • Preventing and treating adhesions occurring after surgery • Managing carbon dioxide emissions in the chemical industry • Anti-cancer properties of a compound found in garlic • Views of general practitioners and parents on antibiotic prescribing • An optimized protocol for producing cerebral organoids

Biology Health

Promoting the competition: A randomized trial of cash incentives for postnatal care referrals by Traditional Birth Attendants

Postnatal care in a formal health facility can be critical in preventing complications and even death of new mothers and babies. Use of postnatal care, however, is low in places like Nigeria where many women give birth supported by a Traditional Birth Attendant rather than a formally trained, skilled provider. BMC Pregnancy and Chilbirth has just published the results of a trial using monetary incentives to encourage Traditional Birth Attendants to refer clients to postnatal care in the local healthcare facility. In this blog post, the authors discuss and provide context for their findings.

Health