Risk Factors of Birth Asphyxia among Newborns at Debre Markos Comprehensive Specialized Referral Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia: Unmatched Case-Control Study
Background: Despite a global decline in under-five deaths, the neonatal mortality rate remains slow in developing countries and birth asphyxia remains the third cause of neonatal deaths. Globally, neonatal deaths accounts for 45% of under-five deaths, birth asphyxia causes 23-40% of neonatal deaths in Ethiopia. There is limited data on risk factors of asphyxia in […]
Pooled prevalence and determinants of skilled birth attendant delivery in East Africa countries: a multilevel analysis of Demographic and Health Surveys
Introduction: Skilled health professional assisted delivery is an effective strategy to reduce maternal and newborn mortality. Skilled assistant delivery can prevent about 16–33% of maternal and newborn mortality. Despite the commitments of the government to assure home free delivery, majority of the births in Sub-Saharan Africa are attended by traditional birth attendants. As to our […]
What predicts delayed first antenatal care contact among primiparous women? Findings from a cross-sectional study in Nigeria
Background: Delayed first antenatal care contact refers to first antenatal care contact occurring above twelfth weeks of gestation. Studies in Nigeria and in other countries have examined the prevalence and predictors of delayed first antenatal care contact. Nevertheless, existing studies have rarely examined the predictors among primiparous women. In addition, the evidence of higher health […]
A family-oriented antenatal education program to improve birth preparedness and maternal-infant birth outcomes: A cross sectional evaluation study
Background: In Tanzania, the information on Birth Preparedness and Complication Readiness is insufficiently provided to pregnant women and their families. The aim of this study was to evaluate the maternal and infant outcomes of a family-oriented antenatal group education program that promotes Birth Preparedness and Complication Readiness in rural Tanzania. Methods: Pregnant women and families […]
Factors associated with tuberculosis infection, and with anti-mycobacterial immune responses, among five year olds BCG-immunised at birth in Entebbe, Uganda
Background: BCG is used widely as the sole licensed vaccine against tuberculosis, but it has variable efficacy and the reasons for this are still unclear. No reliable biomarkers to predict future protection against, or acquisition of, TB infection following immunisation have been identified. Lessons from BCG could be valuable in the development of effective tuberculosis […]
Task shifting routine inpatient pediatric HIV testing improves program outcomes in urban Malawi: A retrospective observational study
Background: This study evaluated two models of routine HIV testing of hospitalized children in a high HIV-prevalence resource-constrained African setting. Both models incorporated “task shifting,” or the allocation of tasks to the least-costly, capable health worker. Methods and Findings: Two models were piloted for three months each within the pediatric department of a referral hospital […]
The coverage of continuum of care in maternal, newborn and child health: A cross-sectional study of woman-child pairs in Ghana
Introduction The continuum of care has recently received attention in maternal, newborn and child health. It can be an effective policy framework to ensure that every woman and child receives timely and appropriate services throughout the continuum. However, a commonly used measurement does not evaluate if a pair of woman and child complies with the […]
Fetal and maternal outcome of higher-order multiple pregnancies in a tertiary hospital: A 5-year single-center observational study from Nigeria
Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the pattern and outcomes of higher-order multiple pregnancies in a tertiary hospital in Nigeria Methods: This is a retrospective review of all cases of higher-order multiple pregnancies that were managed between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2016 in Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital Abakaliki, […]
Improving health literacy through group antenatal care: A prospective cohort study
Background: To examine whether exposure to group antenatal care increased women’s health literacy by improving their ability to interpret and utilize health messages compared to women who received standard, individual antenatal care in Ghana. Methods: We used a prospective cohort design. The setting was a busy urban district hospital in Kumasi, the second most populous […]
Geographic variation and factors associated with under-five mortality in Ethiopia. A spatial and multilevel analysis of Ethiopian mini demographic and health survey 2019
Background The distribution of under-five mortality (U5M) worldwide is uneven and the burden is higher in Sub-Saharan African countries, which account for more than 53% of the global under-five mortality. In Ethiopia, though U5M decreased substantially between 1990 and 2019, it remains excessively high and unevenly distributed. Therefore, this study aimed to assess geographic variation […]
