Socioeconomic inequalities in the uptake of maternal healthcare services in Ethiopia
Background: The progress in coverage of maternal health services in Ethiopia has been rather slow over the past decade and consequently the maternal mortality ratio was very high (673 per 100,000 live births) among the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and remained constant during 2005-11 period. Earlier studies have mostly focused on determinants of maternal health […]
Wealth Status, Health Insurance, and Maternal Health Care Utilization in Africa: Evidence from Gabon
Background. To achieve the universal health coverage among other Sustainable Development Goals, African countries have shown the commitment by implementing strategies to improve access and coverage of health care services whose access is still very low. The achievement of universal health care requires the provision and availability of an adequate financing system. This study explored […]
Impacts of maternal mortality on living children and families: A qualitative study from Butajira, Ethiopia
Background: The consequences of maternal mortality on orphaned children and the family members who support them are dramatic, especially in countries that have high maternal mortality like Ethiopia. As part of a four country, mixed-methods study (Ethiopia, Malawi, South Africa, and Tanzania) qualitative data were collected in Butajira, Ethiopia with the aim of exploring the […]
Implementation and effectiveness of free health insurance for the poor pregnant women in Tanzania: A mixed methods evaluation
Demand side financing strategies have been a popular means of increasing coverage and availability of effective maternal and child health services in low and middle income countries (LMIC). However, most research to date has focused on the effects of demand side financing on the use and costs of care with less attention being paid to […]
Effects of multiannual, seasonal unconditional cash transfers on food security and dietary diversity in rural Burkina Faso: The Moderate Acute Malnutrition Out (MAM’Out) cluster-randomized controlled trial
Objective To evaluate the impact of multiannual, seasonal unconditional cash transfers (UCT) provided within the Moderate Acute Malnutrition Out (MAM’Out) research project on households’ food security and children’s and caregivers’ dietary diversity.Design A two-arm cluster-randomized controlled trial with sixteen villages in the intervention group and sixteen others in the control group. A monthly allowance of […]
Nutrition-sensitive agricultural interventions, agricultural diversity, food access and child dietary diversity: Evidence from rural Zambia
We study a nutrition-sensitive agricultural program in low-income rural Zambia between 2011 and 2015. Using a pre-post design with a control group, we measure program effects along established pathways connecting agriculture to nutrition: diversity of agricultural production, crop sales, household food access and child and maternal diets. The program increased diversity in crops grown and […]
Co-coverage of reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health interventions shows wide inequalities and is associated with child nutritional outcomes in Ethiopia (2005–2019)
The health system is the primary vehicle for the delivery of nutrition-specific interventions that aim to reduce maternal and child malnutrition. The integration of nutrition interventions into existing health interventions is promising, but to ensure that no one is left behind requires that access to essential health services is equitably distributed. This study aims to […]
Why rural women do not use primary health centres for pregnancy care: Evidence from a qualitative study in Nigeria
Background: While Primary Health Care has been designed to provide universal access to skilled pregnancy care for the prevention of maternal deaths in Nigeria, available evidence suggests that pregnant women in rural communities often do not use Primary Health Care Centres for skilled care. The objective of this study was to investigate the reasons why […]
Inequalities in maternal health care utilization in Benin: A population based cross-sectional study
Background: Ensuring equitable access to maternal health care including antenatal, delivery, postnatal services and fertility control methods, is one of the most critical challenges for public health sector. There are significant disparities in maternal health care indicators across many geographical locations, maternal, economic, socio-demographic factors in many countries in sub-Sahara Africa. In this study, we […]
Predictors of utilisation of skilled maternal healthcare in Lilongwe District, Malawi
Background: Despite numerous efforts to improve maternal and child health in Malawi, maternal and newborn mortality rates remain very high, with the country having one of the highest maternal mortality ratios globally. The aim of this study was to identify which individual factors best predict utilisation of skilled maternal healthcare in a sample of women […]
