Trend change in delayed first antenatal care visit among reproductive-aged women in Ethiopia: multivariate decomposition analysis
Background: Early first antenatal care visit is a critical health care service for the well-being of women and newborn babies. However, many women in Ethiopia still start their first antenatal care visit late. We aimed to examine the trend in delayed first antenatal care visit and identify the contributing factors for the trend change in […]
Minimum dietary diversity and associated factors among children under the age of five attending public health facilities in Wolaita Soddo town, Southern Ethiopia, 2021: a cross-sectional study
Background: Poor quality diets are the greatest obstacles to survival, growth, development, and learning in children. Dietary diversity is a major problem in developing countries including Ethiopia. For better feeding practices and focused interventions, it is essential to identify dietary diversity in children. In order to draw firm conclusions, previous studies in Ethiopia were unable […]
Trends in and socio-demographic factors associated with caesarean section at a Tanzanian referral hospital, 2000 to 2013
Background: Caesarean section (CS) can prevent maternal or fetal complications. Sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest CS levels in the world but large variations are seen between and within countries. The tertiary hospital, Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) in Tanzania has had a high level of CS over years. The aim of this study was to […]
Utilization of focused antenatal care among expectant women in Murang’a county, Kenya
Focused Antenatal Care (FANC) is crucial to improving maternal and infant health. Despite the Government of Kenya’ efforts to reduce maternal and neonatal morbidities and mortalities, these conditions prevail in Murunga. The current study examined how individual, organizational, and policy factors influence the utilization of focused antenatal care services amongst women in the Gatanga sub-county, […]
Neurodevelopmental Outcomes of Young Children Born to HIV-Infected Mothers: A Pilot Study
Introduction: Over 15 million children who were exposed to HIV perinatally but uninfected (HEU) are alive globally, and they are faced with multiple risk factors for poor neurodevelopment. While children who are HIV-infected (HIV+) appear to have worse neurodevelopmental scores compared to children unexposed and uninfected with HIV (HUU), the evidence is mixed in children […]
The impact of community based continuous training project on improving couples’ knowledge on birth preparedness and complication readiness in rural setting Tanzania; A controlled quasi-experimental study
Background It is widely accepted that community-based interventions are vital strategies towards reduction of maternal and neonatal mortalities in developing counties. This study aimed at finding the impact a Community Based Continuous Training (CBCT) project in improving couples’ knowledge on birth preparedness and complication readiness in rural Tanzania. Method The quasi-experimental study design with control […]
Determinants of delayed or incomplete diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccination in parallel urban and rural birth cohorts of 30,956 infants in Tanzania
Background: Delayed vaccination increases the time infants are at risk for acquiring vaccine-preventable diseases. Factors associated with incomplete vaccination are relatively well characterized in resource-limited settings; however, few studies have assessed immunization timeliness. Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study examining Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis (DTP) vaccination timing among newborns enrolled in a Neonatal Vitamin A supplementation trial […]
Does early linear growth failure influence later school performance? A cohort study in karonga district, Northern Malawi
Introduction Stunting or linear growth retardation in childhood is associated with delayed cognitive development due to related causes (malnutrition, illness, poor stimulation), which leads to poor school outcomes at later ages, although evidence of the association between the timing and persistence of stunting and school outcomes within the sub-Saharan African context is limited. Methods Anthropometric […]
Operational lessons learned in conducting an international study on pharmacovigilance in pregnancy in resource-constrained settings: The WHO Global Vaccine safety Multi-Country collaboration project
The WHO Global Vaccine Safety Multi-Country Collaboration study on safety in pregnancy aims to estimate the minimum detectable risk for selected perinatal and neonatal outcomes and assess the applicability of standardized case definitions for study outcomes and maternal immunization in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This paper documents the operational lessons learned from the study. […]
Non-specific effects of BCG and DTP vaccination on infant mortality: An analysis of birth cohorts in Ghana and Tanzania
Background: Vaccines may induce non-specific effects on survival and health outcomes, in addition to protection against targeted pathogens or disease. Observational evidence suggests that infant Baccillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination may provide non-specific survival benefits, while diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) vaccination may increase the risk of mortality. Non-specific vaccine effects have been hypothesized to modify the effect of […]
