Promoting evidence informed policymaking for maternal and child health in Nigeria: Lessons from a knowledge translation workshop
Background: Knowledge translation (KT) is a process that ensures that research evidence gets translated into policy and practice. In Nigeria, reports indicate that research evidence rarely gets into policymaking process. A major factor responsible for this is lack of KT capacity enhancement mechanisms. The objective of this study was to improve KT competence of an […]
Age at menarche in relation to nutritional status and critical life events among rural and urban secondary school girls in post-conflict Northern Uganda
Background: Menarche age is an important indicator of reproductive health of a woman or a community. In industrial societies, age at menarche has been declining over the last 150 years with a secular trend, and similar trends have been reported in some developing countries. Menarche age is affected by genetic and environmental cues, including nutrition. […]
Timely initiation of breastfeeding and associated factors among mothers having children less than two years of age in sub- Saharan Africa: A multilevel analysis using recent Demographic and Health Surveys data
Background Despite the significant advantages of timely initiation of breastfeeding (TIBF), many countries particularly low- and middle-income countries have failed to initiate breastfeeding on time for their newborns. Optimal breastfeeding is one of the key components of the SDG that may help to achieve reduction of under-five mortality to 25 deaths per 1000 live births. […]
Surveillance of mother-to-child transmission prevention programmes at immunization clinics: The case for universal screening
BACKGROUND: Surveillance programmes for prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) fail to quantify numbers of infant HIV infections averted, often because of poor postnatal follow-up. Additionally, infected infants are often not identified early and only gain access to comprehensive HIV care and treatment late in their disease. METHODS: Anonymous, unlinked, HIV prevalence testing was […]
Association Between Obsessive-Compulsive Symptom Dimensions in Mothers and Psychopathology in Their Children
Background: The non-clinical presentation of obsessive–compulsive symptoms (OCS) in women may impact not only their daily lives and well-being but also increase the risk for emotional and behavioral problems in their children. This study aims to investigate the OCS dimension distribution in a large sample of mothers from a cohort of school age children and […]
Process Evaluation of Maternal, Child Health and Nutrition Improvement Project (MCHNP) in the Eastern Region of Ghana: A Case Study of Selected Districts
Background. Maternal, Child Health and Nutrition improvement Project is a World Bank-funded project implemented in all then ten regions of Ghana, which aims at improving access and utilization of community-based maternal, child health, and nutrition services in order to accelerate progress. This study is aimed at determining the implementation status of the project in the […]
A protocol for an observational cohort study of heat strain and its effect on fetal wellbeing in pregnant farmers in The Gambia
Introduction: Climate change predictions indicate that global temperatures are likely to exceed those seen in the last 200,000 years, rising by around 4°C above pre-industrial levels by 2100 (without effective mitigation of current emission rates). In regions of the world set to experience extreme temperatures, women often work outside in agriculture even during pregnancy. The […]
‘If he sees it with his own eyes, he will understand’: How gender informed the content and delivery of a maternal nutrition intervention in Burkina Faso
A growing body of literature urges policymakers, practitioners and scientists to consider gender in the design and evaluation of health interventions. We report findings from formative research to develop and refine an mHealth maternal nutrition intervention in Nouna, Burkina Faso, one of the world’s most resource-poor settings. Gender was not an initial research focus, but […]
A novel intervention combining supplementary food and infection control measures to improve birth outcomes in undernourished pregnant women in Sierra Leone: A randomized, controlled clinical effectiveness trial
Background Innovations for undernourished pregnant women that improve : newborn survival and anthropometry are needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals 1 and 3. This study tested the hypothesis that a combination of a nutritious supplementary food and several proven chemotherapeutic interventions to control common infections would increase newborn weight and length in undernourished pregnant […]
Health care providers’ knowledge of clinical protocols for postpartum hemorrhage care in Kenya: a cross-sectional study
Background: Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) remains the leading cause of maternal death worldwide despite its often-preventable nature. Understanding health care providers’ knowledge of clinical protocols is imperative for improving quality of care and reducing mortality. This is especially pertinent in referral and teaching hospitals that train nursing and medical students and interns in addition to managing […]
