Predictors of maternal and newborn health service utilization across the continuum of care in Ethiopia: A multilevel analysis

Background The continuum of care for maternal and newborn health is a systematic approach for delivery of an integrated effective package of life-saving interventions throughout pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum as well as across levels of service delivery to women and newborns. Nonetheless, in low-income countries, coverage of these interventions across the life cycle continuum is […]

Barriers to maternal health service use in Chikhwawa, southern Malawi

Introduction Research was conducted to get a community’s perspective on the factors contributing to continued maternal and neonatal deaths. The aim of the study was to identify and understand experiences, perceptions and needs of the community on maternal health service utilization. Methods Qualitative data was obtained through focus group discussions with community leaders, women, men […]

Challenges women with disability face in accessing and using maternal healthcare services in Ghana: A qualitative study

Background: While a number of studies have examined the factors affecting accessibility to and utilisation of healthcare services by persons with disability in general, there is little evidence about disabled women’s access to maternal health services in low-income countries and few studies consult disabled women themselves to understand their experience of care and the challenges […]

Maternal nutrition in rural Kenya: Health and socio-demographic determinants and its association with child nutrition

High levels of food insecurity and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection place most breastfeeding mothers in Kenya at high risk of malnutrition. We examined the role of selected socio-economic, demographic and health factors as determinants of nutritional status among HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected mothers in rural Kenya and further examined the interrelationship between maternal nutritional and […]

Using mobile transport vouchers to improve access to skilled delivery

Introduction: Reducing maternal death remains a challenge in many low-income countries. Preventing maternal deaths depends significantly on the presence of a skilled birth attendant at child delivery. The main objective of this study was to find out whether use of mobile transport vouchers would result in an increased number of pregnant women choosing to deliver […]

“the system here isn’t on patients’ side”- perspectives of women and men on the barriers to accessing and utilizing maternal healthcare services in South Sudan

Background: In fragile and war-affected setting such as South Sudan, a combination of physical environmental, socioeconomic factors and healthcare’s characteristic contributes to higher rates of home delivery attended by unskilled attendants. This study aims to understand the community members’ experience, perceptions and the barriers in relation to accessing and utilizing maternal healthcare services in South […]

Availability and affordability of priority lifesaving maternal health medicines in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Background: Access to life-saving medicines for maternal health remains a major challenge in numerous developing nations. Periodic and continuous assessment of access to lifesaving commodities is of enormous importance to measure progress and ensure sustainable supply. This study aimed to assess the availability and affordability of priority lifesaving maternal medicines in Addis Ababa in January […]

Poor quality for poor women? Inequities in the quality of antenatal and delivery care in Kenya

Background: Quality of healthcare is an important determinant of future progress in global health. However, the distributional aspects of quality of care have received inadequate attention. We assessed whether high quality maternal care is equitably distributed by (1) mapping the quality of maternal care in facilities located in poorer versus wealthier areas of Kenya; and […]

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