When i eat well, i will be healthy, and the child will also be healthy”: Maternal nutrition among hiv-infected women enrolled in a livelihood intervention in western kenya

Background: Food insecurity remains a major obstacle to achieving health and well-being for individuals living with HIV in western Kenya. Studies have shown that pregnant women are vulnerable to experiencing food insecurity worldwide, with significant consequences for both maternal and child health. The Shamba Maisha cluster randomized controlled trial in western Kenya (which means “farming […]

Factors Associated with the Uptake of Antenatal Tetanus Toxoids Containing Vaccine by First-Time Mothers in Nigeria: Findings from the 2018 Nigerian Demographic Health Survey

Background. Maternal and neonatal tetanus remains a public health problem in low-and-middle-income countries despite the increasing investment in tetanus toxoid containing vaccines (TTCV). Nigeria still records fatalities from tetanus, predominantly in women of reproductive age and in newborns. This is largely due to poor access to vaccinations and high rates of unsupervised labour and childbirth. […]

Incidence of neonatal mortality and its predictors among live births in Ethiopia: Gompertz gamma shared frailty model

Background: Neonatal mortality remains a serious public health concern in developing countries including Ethiopia. Ethiopia is one of the countries with the highest neonatal mortality in Africa. However, there is limited evidence on the incidence and predictors of neonatal mortality at the national level. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the incidence of neonatal mortality […]

Longitudinal mediation analysis of the factors associated with trajectories of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms among postpartum women in Northwest Ethiopia: Application of the Karlson-Holm-Breen (KHB) method

Introduction In recent years, literatures identified childbirth as a potentially traumatic experience resulting in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with 19.7 to 45.5% of women perceiving their childbirth as traumatic. A substantial variation in PTSD symptoms has been also indicated among women who experience a traumatic childbirth. However, there has been no research that has systematically […]

Treatment outcomes among HIV-positive orphaned and non-orphaned children on antiretroviral therapy in Johannesburg, South Africa

BACKGROUND: Limited research investigating treatment outcomes for HIV-positive orphans compared with non-orphans has shown mixed results, with several studies indicating that HIV-positive orphans are at greater risk of delayed access to HIV care and poor antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence, while other data suggest that ART outcomes of orphans can be similar to those of non-orphans. Understanding […]

Social circumstances and cultural beliefs influence maternal nutrition, breastfeeding and child feeding practices in South Africa

Background: Maternal and child undernutrition remain prevalent in developing countries with 45 and 11% of child deaths linked to poor nutrition and suboptimal breastfeeding, respectively. This also has adverse effects on child growth and development. The study determined maternal dietary diversity, breastfeeding and, infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices and identified reasons for such […]

Determinants of frequency and contents of postnatal care among women in Ezha District, Southern Ethiopia, 2020: Based on who recommendation

Background: Postnatal care is a constellation of preventive care, practices, and assessments intended to detect and treat complications for both the mother and the newborn in the first six following birth. Monitoring of the content and frequency of the PNC is required to make the service provision more successful. However, several studies centered on the […]

Scale up and strengthening of comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care in Tanzania

Introduction In Tanzania, inadequate access to comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care (CEmONC) services is the major bottleneck for perinatal care and results in high maternal and perinatal mortality. From 2015 to 2019, the Accessing Safe Deliveries in Tanzania project was implemented to study how to improve access to CEmONC services in underserved rural areas. […]

Improving access to skilled facility-based delivery services: Women’s beliefs on facilitators and barriers to the utilisation of maternity waiting homes in rural Zambia

Background: Maternity waiting homes (MWHs) are aimed at improving access to facility-based skilled delivery services in rural areas. This study explored women’s experiences and beliefs concerning utilisation of MWHs in rural Zambia. Insight is needed into women’s experiences and beliefs to provide starting points for the design of public health interventions that focus on promoting […]

Measuring socioeconomic inequalities in prenatal HIV test service uptake for prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV in East Africa: A decomposition analysis

Background Despite efforts made towards the elimination of mother-to-child HIV transmission, socioeconomic inequality in prenatal HIV test uptake in East Africa is not well understood. Therefore, this study aimed at measuring socioeconomic inequalities in prenatal HIV test uptake and explaining its main determinants in East Africa Method We analysed a total weighted sample of 45,476 […]