This State of the World’s Mothers Report examines data and trends in the field of child survival and presents a case for why the world must do more to prevent death among children under age 5. The report includes the first-ever Child Survival Progress Rankings that look at 60 developing countries showing which countries are...

There is a commonplace notion that full moons affect natality and mortality. To test this theory, Joshua S. Gans and Andrew Leigh obtain daily births and deaths data from Australia, covering all 10,592 days from 1 January 1975 to 31 December 2003. They find that full moons are not associated with any significant change in...

The goal of newborn screening is early identification of children affected by congenital and metabolic disorders for which medical treatment can be promptly initiated to avert metabolic crises and prevent irreversible neurological and developmental sequelae. Early identification of these conditions is crucial, as timely intervention can lead to a significant reduction of morbidity, mortality, and...

Background: Iodine requirements increase in pregnancy as both the mother and foetus need iodine for the synthesis of thyroid hormones. In response to a re-emergence of iodine deficiency in New Zealand in the 1990s, bread was fortified with iodised salt in 2009 and a recommendation for a daily supplement of 150 µg iodine in pregnancy...

Congenital anomalies are amongst the leading causes of fetal and infant mortality and morbidity, yet are not consistently monitored within existing indicators used to assess the health and wellbeing of the New Zealand population.