There has been no reduction in neonatal mortality rate figures in the country since 2003. From the 2002 figures, when 37.1 babies in a thousand died within the first 28 days of their life, the figure has remained static at 36 from 2003 to 2007.

These are also the last available figures, said experts at a seminar on

The infant mortality rate (IMR) in India has gone down. According to the latest figures by the Registrar General of India under the Ministry of Home Affairs, while the IMR in 2006 was 57 per 1,000 live births, India reported an IMR of 53 per 1,000 live births in 2008.

- Six malnutrition treatment centres have opened doors in the state since July

The state has received six more malnutrition treatment centres, in the past two to three months, that aim to curb the mortality rate among infants.

London: A British court has ruled in favor of a group of young people who say pollution from a former steelworks contributed to their birth defects.

Eighteen claimants aged between nine and 22 sued a local authority, claiming their mothers were exposed to what one expert called an

Chicago: Researchers for the first time have linked air pollution exposure before birth with lower IQ scores in childhood, bolstering evidence that smog may harm the developing brain.

Govt says it

New York: Researchers in the United States have suggested that exposure to pollution during pregnancy could harm babies.

In an ambitious plan that is projected to usher radical changes in the area of maternal and child care, the State government on Wednesday announced a Rs 180-crore twin-scheme that would ensure special care for the girl child after birth and of the mother since conception.

Pathanamthitta district in Kerala may soon have the unique distinction of achieving zero population growth. A recent UNICEF-sponsored survey revealed the district has a birth rate of 5.3 per thousand

A premature death seems in store for the "cradle baby scheme" launched with much fanfare by Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalitha last October, following reports of female infanticide in Salem.