Mom Health

The WHO and other UN agencies have a mandate to implement a life course approach to ensure that health policies and strategies address needs across all life stages, as articulated in Sustainable Devel

The first month of life is the most vulnerable period for child survival, with 2.3 million newborns dying in 2022. Neonatal deaths have decreased by 44% since 2000. Yet in 2022, nearly half (47%) of

Six years to the SDG deadline. Six actions to reduce unacceptably high maternal, newborn and child deaths and stillbirths. Below are listed calls for expression of interests, calls for experts and op

Breastfeeding is one of the most effective ways to ensure child health and survival. If breastfeeding were scaled up to near universal levels, about 820 000 child lives would be saved every year (1).

Proper infant nutrition is fundamental to a child’s continued health, from birth through adulthood. Correct feeding in the first three years of life is particularly important due to its role in loweri

Learn more about the revision process. This statement by the Infant Feeding Joint Working Group provides health professionals with evidence-informed principles and recommendations. Provinces, territo

Breast milk is the best food you can offer your new baby. The Canadian Paediatric Society recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life. At about 6 months, your baby will be ready

Breastfeeding Features Breastfeeding Benefits Both Baby and Mom

Substance Use During Pregnancy E-Cigarettes and Pregnancy Perinatal Quality Collaboratives

On the occasion of the World Health Day 2025 dedicated to the theme of Healthier beginnings, hopeful futures, over 100 global offices of the World Health Organization (WHO) have organized wide-ranging

Leading global health and development agencies today released a new first-of-its-kind implementation guide to help countries provide respectful, dignified care and eliminate mistreatment across matern

CDC's Division of Reproductive Health (DRH) provides scientific leadership to promote women's and infants' health before, during, and after pregnancy. DRH works to reduce health problems and death am

Around the age of 6 months, an infant’s need for energy and nutrients starts to exceed what is provided by breast milk, and complementary foods are necessary to meet those needs. An infant of this age

Exclusive breastfeeding – defined as the practice of only giving an infant breast-milk for the first 6 months of life (no other food or water) – has the single largest potential impact on child mortal

Recognizing that the world is not on track to meet all of the 2025 global nutrition targets, WHO Member States, during the 78th World Health Assembly in 2025, passed a resolution to extend the target

New WHO Collaborating Centre established to support work on food safety and healthy diet WHO urges schools worldwide to promote healthy eating for children Updated WHO manuals released to help count

Bringing together all existing WHO Global Nutrition Databases dynamically, as well as other existing food and nutrition-related data from partner agencies, NLiS is a web-based tool which provides nutr

Newborn deaths account for 47% of deaths among children under the age of 5 globally, resulting in 2.4 million lives lost each year. About one third of newborn deaths occur on the day of birth and clos

Maternal health refers to the health of women during pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period. Each stage should be a positive experience, ensuring women and their babies reach their full poten

Protecting and improving the health of children is of fundamental importance. Over the past several decades, we have seen dramatic progress in improving the health and reducing the mortality rate of y

An estimated 4.9 million children died before their fifth birthday in 2024, including 2.3 million newborns, according to new estimates released today. Most of these deaths are preventable with proven,

Improving health and well-being outcomes for children (age 1 month to 59 months, and 5 to 9 years) is a priority for WHO and UNICEF. CHAT is a technical advisory group to WHO and UNICEF. Its main obje

The health of women and children are critical for global development. However, information and data on measuring countries’ progress are limited given the variety of methodological challenges of measu

The Strategic and Technical Advisory Group of Experts (STAGE) for Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition (MNCAHN) was established by the Director-General of the World Health Orga

Although the proportion of reported cases of  SARS-CoV-2 infection, severity and deaths from COVID-19  illness has been low in children and it appears that pregnancy and childbirth do not increase t

Similarities and differences in international clinical practice guidelines for preeclampsia diagnosis and diagnostics: a scoping review.Hypertension in pregnancy, 6 July 2025, Vol 44, No 1, 2532489.

Every Woman Every Newborn Everywhere (EWENE) Dashboard Child Health and Well Being Dashboard The WHO Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing (MCA) leads WHO’s work on

Improvement to health care delivery requires a deliberate focus on the quality of health services, which involves providing effective, safe, people-centred care that is timely, equitable, integrated a

Epidemiology, Monitoring and Evaluation Our mission is to promote and facilitate the collection, analysis and strategic use of information on maternal, newborn, child, adolescent health and ageing to

Programme manager's handbook for maternal, child and adolescent health The WHO maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (MNCAH) e-handbook is a vital resource for ministry of health programme m

Achieving UHC for older people Providing access to long-term care for older people Transforming health and social services towards a more person-centred and integrated care World Health Organizatio

Setting standards for adolescent care Strengthening data on adolescent health and well-being Strengthening adolescent-responsive health systems Promoting adolescent well-being This publication is

Promoting healthy growth and development Rethinking the child health agenda Strengthening health services with quality Despite gains in childhood survival, more effort is needed to improve the well

Making childbirth a positive experience Strengthening home-based records implementation Strengthening quality midwifery for all mothers and newborns Raising the importance of postnatal care Streng

Perinatal Quality Collaboratives work at the state level to improve the quality of care for mothers and babies. Perinatal Quality Collaboratives (PQCs) are state or multistate networks of teams. They

Severe maternal morbidity (SMM) includes unexpected outcomes of labor and delivery that can result in significant short- or long-term health consequences. SMM has been steadily increasing in recent ye

Risk-appropriate care is a strategy to ensure that pregnant women and infants get the right care in the right place at the right time. To provide a consistent approach to assessing risk-appropriate ca

Preterm birth is when a baby is born too early, before 37 weeks of pregnancy have been completed. In 2022, preterm birth affected about 1 of every 10 infants born in the United States. The preterm bi

Learn about substance use (including opioids, marijuana, tobacco, and alcohol) during pregnancy. Also, find out about resources for health professionals and CDC activities to address this important he

More than 20,500 infants died in the United States in 2022. The five leading causes of infant death in 2022 were: Preterm birth and low birth weight. Visit Mortality in the United States, 2022 for m

Pregnancy complications include physical and mental conditions that affect the health of the pregnant or postpartum woman, their baby, or both. It is important to get health care before, during, and a

Managing diabetes throughout pregnancy helps to ensure a healthy pregnancy and healthy baby. For long-term health, continue to follow up with your health care provider after birth if you had diabetes

The amount of weight you gain during pregnancy is important for your pregnancy health. It is also important for the long-term health of you and your baby. Learn about pregnancy weight gain recommendat

Breastfeeding has many health benefits for infants, children, and mothers. Many families stop breastfeeding earlier than they planned. State and local organizations can implement policies and activi

This page offers information about topics such as the benefits of breastfeeding, reasons some women shouldn't breastfeed, how long a mother should breastfeed, breastfeeding while a child is getting a

Breastfeeding helps protect the health of infants and their mothers. State and local organizations can support breastfeeding where families live, learn, work, and play. Actions may include implement

Many mothers worry whether they can make enough milk for their baby. These signs can help you to know that your baby is getting enough: Your baby is breastfeeding often, 8-12 times per day (24 hours)

Breast milk is a great source of nutrition for your baby. Learn about breastfeeding recommendations and benefits, and vitamin and mineral considerations. The U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans rec

You should be tested for hepatitis B, syphilis, group B streptococcus, Chlamydia trachomatis, gonorrhea and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in every pregnancy. All these infections can hurt your ba

Rubella, commonly known as German measles, is an infection that affects the skin and lymph nodes. It is caused by a virus. Rubella is serious in pregnant women because of the effect it can have on an