A Common Antibiotic Could Prevent Deaths from Childbirth Complications
Childbirth is a vulnerable experience, both emotionally and physically. Giving birth, whether vaginally or through a cesarean section, creates opportunities for bacteria to infect both the parent and newborn, and sometimes these infections can cause the parent’s immune response to spiral out of control.
That extreme response to infection, called sepsis, is the third most common global cause of death during or after childbirth. Millions of cases of maternal sepsis occur each year, mostly in low- and middle-income…