Public and private maternal health service capacity and patient flows in southern Tanzania: Using a geographic information system to link hospital and national census data
Background: Strategies to improve maternal health in low-income countries are increasingly embracing partnership approaches between public and private stakeholders in health. In Tanzania, such partnerships are a declared policy goal. However, implementation remains challenging as unfamiliarity between partners and insufficient recognition of private health providers prevail. This hinders cooperation and reflects the need to improve […]
Use pattern of maternal health services and determinants of skilled care during delivery in Southern Tanzania: Implications for achievement of MDG-5 targets
Background: Almost two decades since the initiation of the Safe motherhood Initiative, Maternal Mortality is still soaring high in most developing countries. In 2000 WHO estimated a life time risk of a maternal death of 1 in 16 in Sub- Saharan Africa while it was only 1 in 2800 in developed countries. This huge discrepancy […]
Health, life and rights: A discourse analysis of a hybrid abortion regime in Tanzania
Background: Unsafe abortion continues to be a major hazard for maternal health in Sub-Saharan Africa, where abortion remains highly controversial and access to safe abortion services is unequally distributed. Although national abortion laws are central in indicating women’s potential for accessing safe abortion services, the character of an abortion law may alone say little about […]
Cost to households in treating maternal complications in northern Ghana: A cross sectional study
Background: The cost of treating maternal complications has serious economic consequences to households and can hinder the utilization of maternal health care services at the health facilities. This study estimated the cost of maternal complications to women and their households in the Kassena-Nankana district of northern Ghana. Methods: We carried out a cross-sectional study between […]
Improving access to emergency obstetric care in underserved rural Tanzania: a prospective cohort study
Background: One of the key strategies to reducing maternal mortality is provision of emergency obstetric care services. This paper describes the results of improving availability of, and access to emergency obstetric care services in underserved rural Tanzania using associate clinicians. Methods: A prospective cohort study of emergency obstetric care was implemented in seven health centres […]
Using audit to enhance quality of maternity care in resource limited countries: Lessons learnt from rural Tanzania
Background: Although clinical audit is an important instrument for quality care improvement, the concept has not yet been adequately taken on board in rural settings in most resource limited countries where the problem of maternal mortality is immense. Maternal mortality and morbidity audit was established at Saint Francis Designated District Hospital (SFDDH) in rural Tanzania […]
‘How to know what you need to do’: A cross-country comparison of maternal health guidelines in Burkina Faso, Ghana and Tanzania
Background: Initiatives to raise the quality of care provided to mothers need to be given priority in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA). The promotion of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) is a common strategy, but their implementation is often challenging, limiting their potential impact. Through a cross-country perspective, this study explored CPGs for maternal health in Burkina […]
Impact of postpartum tenofovir-based antiretroviral therapy on bone mineral density in breastfeeding women with HIV enrolled in a randomized clinical trial
Objectives We set out to evaluate the effect of postnatal exposure to tenofovir-containing antiretroviral therapy on bone mineral density among breastfeeding women living with HIV. Design IMPAACT P1084s is a sub-study of the PROMISE randomized trial conducted in four African countries (ClinicalTrials.gov number NCT01066858). Methods IMPAACT P1084s enrolled eligible mother-infant pairs previously randomised in the […]
What are the barriers to antenatal care utilization in Rufisque District, Senegal?: A bottleneck analysis
Background: This study aimed to analyze the barriers affecting the utilization of antenatal care (ANC) among Senegalese mothers. Methods: Health facility staffs were surveyed to examine the availability coverage of ANC (infrastructural capacity of health posts to handle maternal and newborn healthcare). A total of 113 women of childbearing age were surveyed to identify factors […]
The unmet need for Emergency Obstetric Care in Tanga Region, Tanzania
Background: Improving maternal health by reducing maternal mortality constitutes the fifth Millennium Development Goal and represents a key public health challenge in the United Republic of Tanzania. In response to the need to evaluate and monitor safe motherhood interventions, this study aims at assessing the coverage of obstetric care according to the Unmet Obstetric Need […]
