Institutional maternal and perinatal deaths: A review of 40 low and middle income countries
Background: Understanding the magnitude and clinical causes of maternal and perinatal mortality are basic requirements for positive change. Facility-based information offers a contextualized resource for clinical and organizational quality improvement. We describe the magnitude of institutional maternal mortality, causes of death and cause-specific case fatality rates, as well as stillbirth and pre-discharge neonatal death rates. […]
A Qualitative study of language barriers between South African health care providers and cross-border migrants
Background: Communication with health care providers represents an essential part of access to health care for the over 230 million cross-border migrants around the world. In this article, we explore the complexity of health communication from the perspective of cross-border migrants seeking antenatal care in Cape Town, South Africa in order to highlight the importance […]
How can corporate taxes contribute to sub-Saharan Africa’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? A case study of Vodafone
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic and the climate emergency threaten progress in reaching many of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets by 2030. The under-5 mortality and maternal mortality rates are well below the targets, and if we progress at the current pace, there is a high risk of not meeting the 2030 goals. Furthermore, the initial […]
Quality of antenatal care predicts retention in skilled birth attendance: A multilevel analysis of 28 African countries
Background: An effective continuum of maternal care ensures that mothers receive essential health packages from pre-pregnancy to delivery, and postnatally, reducing the risk of maternal death. However, across Africa, coverage of skilled birth attendance is lower than coverage for antenatal care, indicating mothers are not retained in the continuum between antenatal care and delivery. This […]
Maternal Combination Antiretroviral Therapy Is Associated with Improved Retention of HIV-Exposed Infants in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo
Background: Programs to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission are plagued by loss to follow-up (LTFU) of HIV-exposed infants. We assessed if providing combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) to HIV-infected mothers was associated with reduced LTFU of their HIV-exposed infants in Kinshasa, DR Congo. Methods: We constructed a cohort of mother-infant pairs using routinely collected clinical data. Maternal […]
Home birth attendants in low income countries: who are they and what do they do?
Background: Nearly half the world’s babies are born at home. We sought to evaluate the training, knowledge, skills, and access to medical equipment and testing for home birth attendants across 7 international sites.Methods: Face-to-face interviews were done by trained interviewers to assess level of training, knowledge and practices regarding care during the antenatal, intrapartum and […]
Accounting for recent trends in the prevalence of diarrhoea in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC): Results from consecutive cross-sectional surveys
Objectives: To analyse trends in diarrhoea prevalence by maternal education, access to clean water and improved sanitation, household wealth index; to identify the sources of variation and assess contribution of changes in socioeconomic characteristics in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Design: Consecutive cross-sectional surveys. Setting: DRC. Participants: The databases contain information on 9748 children […]
Women’s education and utilization of maternal health services in Africa: A multi-country and socioeconomic status analysis
Summary There is an abundant literature on the relationship between women’s education and maternal and child outcomes, including antenatal and postnatal care, onset of antenatal care and skilled birth attendance. However, few studies have adopted the ‘equity’ lens, despite increasing evidence that inequities between rich and poor are increasing although maternal and child mortality is […]
