Limiting adverse birth outcomes in resource-limited settings (LABOR): Protocol of a prospective intrapartum cohort study
Background: Each year, nearly 300,000 women and 5 million fetuses or neonates die during childbirth or shortly thereafter, a burden concentrated disproportionately in low- and middle-income countries. Identifying women and their fetuses at risk for intrapartum-related morbidity and death could facilitate early intervention. Methods: The Limiting Adverse Birth Outcomes in Resource-Limited Settings (LABOR) Study is […]
Beyond political will: unpacking the drivers of (non) health reforms in sub-Saharan Africa
Background Lack of political will is frequently invoked as a rhetorical tool to explain the gap between commitment and action for health reforms in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, the concept remains vague, ill defined and risks being used as a scapegoat to actually examine what shapes reforms in a given context, and what to do […]
Birth location preferences of mothers and fathers in rural Ghana: Implications for pregnancy, labor and birth outcomes
Background: Maternal deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa are largely preventable with health facility delivery assisted by skilled birth attendants. Examining associations of birth location preferences on pregnant women’s experiences is important to understanding delays in care seeking in the event of complications. We explored the influence of birth location preference on women’s pregnancy, labor and birth […]
Burden, timing and causes of maternal and neonatal deaths and stillbirths in sub- Saharan Africa and South Asia: Protocol for a prospective cohort study
Objectives The AMANHI mortality study aims to use harmonized methods, across eleven sites in eight countries in South Asia and sub- Saharan Africa, to estimate the burden, timing and causes of maternal, fetal and neonatal deaths. It will generate data to help advance the science of cause of death (COD) assignment in developing country settings. […]
Are Ghanaian women meeting the WHO recommended maternal healthcare (MCH) utilisation? Evidence from a national survey
Background: To achieve the Sustainable Development Goal target 3.1, the World Health Organisation recommends that all pregnant women receive antenatal care (ANC) from skilled providers, utilise the services of a skilled birth attendant at birth and receive their first postnatal care (PNC) within the first 24 h after birth. In this paper, we examined the […]
Women’s use of non-conventional herbal uterotonic in pregnancy and labour: evidence from birth attendants
Background: Over the years, governments and stakeholders have implemented various policies/programmes to improve maternal health outcomes in low-middle-income countries. In Ghana, Community Health Officers were trained as midwives to increase access to skilled maternal healthcare. The government subsequently banned traditional birth attendants from providing direct maternal healthcare in 2000. Despite these, there is an unprecedented […]
Cost effectiveness of option B plus for prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in resource-limited countries: Evidence from Kumasi, Ghana
Background: Achieving the goal of eliminating mother-to-child HIV transmission (MTCT) necessitates increased access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV-infected pregnant women. Option B provides ART through pregnancy and breastfeeding, whereas Option B+ recommends continuous ART regardless of CD4 count, thus potentially reducing MTCT during future pregnancies. Our objective was to compare maternal and pediatric health […]
Treatment gap and help-seeking for postpartum depression in a rural African setting
Background: Postpartum depression (PPD) affects more than one in ten women and is associated with adverse consequences for mother, child and family. Integrating mental health care into maternal health care platforms is proposed as a means of improving access to effective care and reducing the ‘treatment gap’ in low- and middle-income countries. This study aimed […]
Open-labelled randomised controlled trial of 12 hours versus 24 hours modified Pritchard regimen in the management of eclampsia and pre-eclampsia in Ghana (MOPEP Study): Study protocol
Introduction Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy continue to be a major contributor to maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. Magnesium sulfate therapy is the standard of care for seizure prophylaxis and treatment for pre-eclampsia and eclampsia respectively, despite wide disparities in dosing regimens and routes of administration. This study compares the clinical efficacy of magnesium sulfate […]
Impact evaluation of the free maternal healthcare policy on the risk of neonatal and infant deaths in four sub-Saharan African countries: A quasi-experimental design with propensity score Kernel matching and difference in differences analysis
Objective Despite the huge financial investment in the free maternal healthcare policy (FMHCP) by the Governments of Ghana and Burkina Faso, no study has quantified the impact of FMHCP on the relative reduction in neonatal and infant mortality rates using a more rigorous matching procedure with the difference in differences (DID) analysis. This study used […]
