The Development and Inclusion of Questions on Surgery in the 2018 Zambia Demographic and Health Survey
Background: While primary data on the unmet need for surgery in low- and middle-income countries is lacking, household surveys could provide an entry point to collect such data. We describe the first development and inclusion of questions on surgery in a nationally representative Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) in Zambia. Method: Questions regarding surgical conditions […]
Who has access to counseling and testing and anti-retroviral therapy in Malawi – An equity analysis
Background. The HIV and AIDS epidemic in Malawi poses multiple challenges from an equity perspective. It is estimated that 12% of Malawians are living with HIV or AIDS among the 15-49 age group. This paper synthesises available information to bring an equity lens on Counselling and Testing (CT) and Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) policy, practice and […]
Using mobile health to support clinical decision-making to improve maternal and neonatal health outcomes in Ghana: Insights of frontline health worker information needs
Background: Developing and maintaining resilient health systems in low-resource settings like Ghana requires innovative approaches that adapt technology to context to improve health outcomes. One such innovation was a mobile health (mHealth) clinical decision-making support system (mCDMSS) that utilized text messaging (short message service, SMS) of standard emergency maternal and neonatal protocols via an unstructured […]
Female clients’ gender preferences for frontline health workers who provide maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) services at primary health care level in Nigeria
Background: In Nigeria, anecdotes abound that female clients, particularly within northern Nigeria, have gender-based preferences for frontline health workers (FLHWs) who provide healthcare services. This may adversely affect uptake of maternal newborn and child health services, especially at primary healthcare level in Nigeria, where a huge proportion of the Nigerian population and rural community members […]
Exploring maternal health care-seeking behavior of married adolescent girls in Bangladesh: A social-ecological approach
Background The huge proportion of child marriage contributes to high rates of pregnancies among adolescent girls in Bangladesh. Despite substantial progress in reducing maternal mortality in the last two decades, the rate of adolescent pregnancy remains high. The use of skilled maternal health services is still low in Bangladesh. Several quantitative studies described the use […]
A healthy mother and baby through optimal timing and spacing of pregnancy
One of the strategies that can assist to improve maternal and newborn outcomes in Malawi is the provision of preconception care. Most of the problems that affect the neonates and their mothers occur before pregnancy and during organogenesis. Men and women of childbearing age need appropriate advice and healthcare to assist them to have healthy […]
Programmes for the prevention of parent-to-child transmission of HIV in Papua New Guinea: Health system challenges and opportunities
Background: Prevention of parent-to-child transmission (PPTCT) of HIV is a highly complex package of interventions, which spans services in both maternal and child health programmes. In Papua New Guinea (PNG), a commitment to ensure that all pregnant women and their partners have access to the full range of PPTCT interventions exists; however, efforts to increase […]
Factors related to maternal adverse outcomes in pregnant women with cardiac disease in low-resource settings
Background: Cardiac disease is an important life-threatening complication during pregnancy. It is frequently seen in pregnant women living in resource-limited areas and often results in premature death. Aim: The aim of this hospital-based longitudinal study was to identify factors related to adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes in pregnant women with cardiac disease in low-resource settings. […]
Barriers to providing quality emergency obstetric care in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Healthcare providers’ perspectives on training, referrals and supervision, a mixed methods study
Background: Increasing women’s access to and use of facilities for childbirth is a critical national strategy to improve maternal health outcomes in Ethiopia; however coverage alone is not enough as the quality of emergency obstetric services affects maternal mortality and morbidity. Addis Ababa has a much higher proportion of facility-based births (82%) than the national […]
What watching others watching can tell us: using video vignettes alongside narrative interviews to access multiple positions and embodied information in cross-cultural mother-infant research
Culturally-embedded and embodied understandings of interaction, transmitted intergenerationally, and often non-consciously through sensory and affective memory, are notoriously difficult to access. Such information is often contained in implicit memory and is not readily available for narrative explanation. Alternative methodologies that can access these models of meaning are required. While videos of mother-infant interaction have long […]
