Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Utilization in Zimbabwe: Retrospective Review of Harare Ambulance System Reports
Background: Emergency medical services (EMS) are a critical but often overlooked component of essential public health care delivery in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). Few countries in Africa have established EMS and there is scant literature to provide guidance for EMS growth. Objective: This study aimed to characterize EMS utilization in Harare, Zimbabwe in order to […]
Intimate partner violence during pregnancy and adverse birth outcomes: A case-control study
Background: Intimate partner violence is a common phenomenon in Ethiopia families. About 81% of women believed that a husband is justified in beating his wife. About 30-60% of families were affected by their intimates. Women suffer physical, emotional, sexual and economic violence by their intimate partners. It often remains either for the sake of family […]
Correlates of pregnancy among Female Sex Workers (FSWs) in semi urban Blantyre, Malawi
Background: Little is known about female sex workers’ (FSWs) reproductive health apart from their being at higher than usual risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate the correlates of pregnancy among FSWs in semi – urban Blantyre in Malawi. Methods: We used systematic sampling to […]
Food sharing is linked to urinary oxytocin levels and bonding in related and unrelated wild chimpanzees
Humans excel in cooperative exchanges between unrelated individuals. Although this trait is fundamental to the success of our species, its evolution and mechanisms are poorly understood. Other social mammals also build long-term cooperative relationships between non-kin, and recent evidence shows that oxytocin, a hormone involved in parent-offspring bonding, is likely to facilitate non-kin as well […]
Scaling up context-tailored clinical guidelines and training to improve childbirth care in urban, low-resource maternity units in Tanzania: A protocol for a stepped-wedged cluster randomized trial with embedded qualitative and economic analyses (The PartoMa Scale-Up Study)
While facility births are increasing in many low-resource settings, quality of care often does not follow suit; maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity remain unacceptably high. Therefore, realistic, context-tailored clinical support is crucially needed to assist birth attendants in resource-constrained realities to provide best possible evidence-based and respectful care. Our pilot study in Zanzibar suggested […]
Examining person-centered maternity care in a peri-urban setting in Embakasi, Nairobi, Kenya
Introduction Peri-urban settings have high maternal mortality and the quality of care received in different types of health facilities is varied. Yet few studies have explored the construct of person-centered maternity care (PCMC) within peri-urban settings. Understanding women’s experience of maternity care in peri-urban settings will allow health facility managers and policy makers to improve […]
Effectiveness of interventions to reduce household air pollution from solid biomass fuels and improve maternal and child health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review protocol
Background: A variety of public health interventions have been undertaken in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to prevent morbidity and mortality associated with household air pollution (HAP) due to cooking, heating and lighting with solid biomass fuels. Pregnant women and children under five are particularly vulnerable to the effects of HAP, due to biological susceptibility […]
How Perceptions of HIV-Related Stigma Affect Decision-Making Regarding Childbirth in Rural Kenya
Introduction: HIV prevalence among pregnant women in Kenya is high. Furthermore, there is a high risk of maternal mortality, as many women do not give birth with a skilled healthcare provider. Previous research suggests that fears of HIV testing and unwanted disclosure of HIV status may be important barriers to utilizing maternity services. We explored […]
Determinants of healthcare utilisation and out-of-pocket payments in the context of free public primary healthcare in Zambia
Background: Access to appropriate and affordable healthcare is needed to achieve better health outcomes in Africa. However, access to healthcare remains low, especially among the poor. In Zambia, poor access exists despite the policy by the government to remove user fees in all primary healthcare facilities in the public sector. The paper has two main […]
Increasing partner attendance in antenatal care and HIV testing services: Comparable outcomes using written versus verbal invitations in an urban facility-based controlled intervention trial in Mbeya, Tanzania
In many Sub-Saharan African settings male partner involvement in antenatal care (ANC) remains low, although great benefits for maternal and infant health outcomes have been long recognised, in particular regarding the prevention of HIV transmission. Yet there is paucity on evidence regarding the effectiveness of strategies to increase male partner involvement. This controlled intervention trial […]
