Why do women prefer home births in Ethiopia?
Background: Skilled attendants during labor, delivery, and in the early postpartum period, can prevent up to 75% or more of maternal death. However, in many developing countries, very few mothers make at least one antenatal visit and even less receive delivery care from skilled professionals. The present study reports findings from a region where key […]
‘[We] learned how to speak with love’: a qualitative exploration of accredited social health activist (ASHA) community health worker experiences of the Mobile Academy refresher training in Rajasthan, India
Introduction Mobile Academy is a mobile-based training course for India’s accredited social health activist (ASHA) community health workers (CHW). The course, which ASHAs access by dialling a number from their phones, totals 4 hours of audio content. It consists of 11 chapters, each with their own quiz, and provides a cumulative pass or fail score […]
When the law makes doors slightly open: ethical dilemmas among abortion service providers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
BACKGROUND: In 2005, Ethiopia changed its abortion law to curb its high maternal mortality. This has led to a considerable reduction in deaths from unsafe abortions. Abortion is now legal if the woman’s pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, if her health is endangered, if the fetus has a serious deformity, if she […]
Midwives’ and patients’ perspectives on disrespect and abuse during labor and delivery care in Ethiopia: A qualitative study
Background: It is increasingly recognized that disrespect and abuse of women during labor and delivery is a violation of a woman’s rights and a deterrent to the use of life-saving, facility-based labor and delivery services. In Ethiopia, rates of skilled birth attendance are still only 28% despite a recent dramatic national scale up in the […]
Academic research productivity of post-graduate students at Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Uganda, from 1996 to 2010: A retrospective review
Background: Research is a core business of universities globally, and is crucial in the scientific process as a precursor for knowledge uptake and use. We aimed to assess the academic productivity of post-graduate students in a university located in a low-income country. Methods: This is an observational retrospective documentary analysis using hand searching archives, Google […]
Pregnant and Postpartum Women’s Experiences and Perspectives on the Acceptability and Feasibility of Copackaged Medicine for Antenatal Care and PMTCT in Lesotho
Objective. To improve PMTCT and antenatal care-related service delivery, a pack with centrally prepackaged medicine was rolled out to all pregnant women in Lesotho in 2011. This study assessed acceptability and feasibility of this copackaging mechanism for drug delivery among pregnant and postpartum women. Methods. Acceptability and feasibility were assessed in a mixed method, cross-sectional […]
Rwanda’s community health workers at the front line: a mixed-method study on perceived needs and challenges for community-based healthcare delivery during COVID-19 pandemic
Objective During the COVID-19 pandemic, community health workers (CHWs) served as front-line workers in the COVID-19 response while maintaining community health services. We aimed to understand challenges faced by Rwanda’s CHWs during a nationwide COVID-19 lockdown that occurred between March and May 2020 by assessing the availability of trainings, supplies and supervision while exploring perceived […]
Impact of continuous Kangaroo Mother Care initiated immediately after birth (iKMC) on survival of newborns with birth weight between 1.0 to < 1.8 kg: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial
Background: Globally, about 15% of newborns are born with a low birth weight (LBW) as a result of preterm birth or intrauterine growth restriction or both. Up to 70% of neonatal deaths occur in this group within the first 3 days after birth. Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) applied after stabilization of the infant has been […]
Effectiveness of targeted antenatal family planning information provision on early postpartum family planning uptake in Kisumu County: Protocol for a simple randomized control trial (I DECIDE Study)
Overlooking the contraceptive needs of postpartum women constitutes missed opportunities in health system. Inter-birth interval of at least three years can prevent poor maternal, perinatal and neonatal outcomes and afford women socio-economic benefits of family planning (FP). The unmet need for FP in the postpartum period remains unacceptably high and far exceeds the FP unmet […]
Using verbal autopsy to measure causes of death: The comparative performance of existing methods
Background: Monitoring progress with disease and injury reduction in many populations will require widespread use of verbal autopsy (VA). Multiple methods have been developed for assigning cause of death from a VA but their application is restricted by uncertainty about their reliability.Methods: We investigated the validity of five automated VA methods for assigning cause of […]
