Determinants of timely initiation of complementary feeding among children aged 6–23 months in Ethiopia
Introducing complementary feeding either early or later than 6 months is associated with future negative health outcomes. However, many women in Ethiopia do not follow WHO standard time to feed their children, which might be due to various demographic, economic, access, and availability of services. Thus, we aimed to identify factors attributing to the problems to assist future […]
Health insurance for the poor decreases access to HIV testing in antenatal care: Evidence of an unintended effect of health insurance reform in Colombia
Prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV was added to standard antenatal care (ANC) in 2000 for Colombians enrolled in the two national health insurance schemes, the ‘subsidized regime’ (covering poor citizens) and the ‘contributory regime’ (covering salaried citizens with incomes above the poverty threshold), which jointly covered 80% of the total Colombian population as of […]
Prevalence of pregnancy-relevant infections in a rural setting of Ghana
Background: Although infectious diseases still account for a high burden of morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa, simultaneous investigations on multiple infections affecting maternal and child health are missing. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional, single-centre pilot study in a rural area of Ghana to assess the infectiological profile during pregnancy. Screening of 180 expectant mothers […]
Longitudinal path analysis for the directional association of depression, anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder with their comorbidities and associated factors among postpartum women in Northwest Ethiopia: A cross-lagged autoregressive modelling study
Introduction Vulnerability for depression, anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms due to perceived traumatic birth increase during the postpartum period. Traumatic birth has been defined as an event occurring during labour and birth that may be a serious threat to the life and safety of the mother and/or child. However, the comorbidity and multimorbidity of […]
Severe acute malnutrition among under-5 children in low- and middle-income countries: A hierarchical analysis of associated risk factors
Objectives: Malnutrition is one of the main reasons for death among children
Effect of a multifaceted intervention on the utilisation of primary health for maternal and child health care in rural Nigeria: A quasi-experimental study
Objective The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a set of multifaceted interventions designed to increase the access of rural women to antenatal, intrapartum, postpartum and childhood immunisation services offered in primary healthcare facilities. Design The study was a separate sample pretest-post-test quasi-experimental research. Setting The research was conducted in 20 […]
Effect of integrating maternal and child health services, nutrition and family planning services on postpartum family planning uptake at 6 months post-partum in Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire and Niger: a quasi-experimental study protocol
Background: Although several interventions integrating maternal, neonatal, child health and nutrition with family planning have been implemented and tested, there is still limited evidence on their effectiveness to guide program efforts and policy action on health services integration. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of a service delivery model integrating maternal and child health […]
A cascade model of mentorship for frontline health workers in rural health facilities in Eastern Uganda: Processes, achievements and lessons
Background: There is increasing demand for trainers to shift from traditional didactic training to innovative approaches that are more results-oriented. Mentorship is one such approach that could bridge the clinical knowledge gap among health workers. Objectives: This paper describes the experiences of an attempt to improve health-worker performance in maternal and newborn health in three […]
Effect of perinatal depression on risk of adverse infant health outcomes in mother-infant dyads in Gondar town: a causal analysis
Background: Approximately one-third of pregnant and postnatal women in Ethiopia experience depression posing a substantial health burden for these women and their families. Although associations between postnatal depression and worse infant health have been observed, there have been no studies to date assessing the causal effects of perinatal depression on infant health in Ethiopia. We […]
Mental health symptoms and their relations with dietary diversity and nutritional status among mothers of young children in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo
Background: In developing countries, maternal mental health problems have been linked to sub-optimal child feeding practices and child underweight and stunting, but little is known about how maternal mental health is associated with mothers’ own diets and nutritional status. The objective of the study was to investigate the association between mental health symptoms and diet […]
