Service delivery reform for maternal and newborn health in Kakamega County, Kenya: study protocol for a prospective impact evaluation and implementation science study
Background: Maternal and neonatal mortality remain elevated in low and middle income countries, and progress is slower than needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Existing strategies appear to be insufficient. One proposed alternative strategy, Service Delivery Redesign for Maternal and Neonatal Health (SDR), centers on strengthening higher level health facilities to provide rapid, definitive care […]
Protocol for a sequential, prospective metaanalysis to describe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the pregnancy and postpartum periods
We urgently need answers to basic epidemiological questions regarding SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnant and postpartum women and its effect on their newborns. While many national registries, health facilities, and research groups are collecting relevant data, we need a collaborative and methodologically rigorous approach to better combine these data and address knowledge gaps, especially those related […]
Effectiveness of a prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission programme in an urban hospital in Angola
Background: Antiretroviral therapy is effective in reducing rates of mother-to child transmission of HIV to low levels in resource-limited contexts but the applicability and efficacy of these programs in the field are scarcely known. In order to explore such issues, we performed a descriptive study on retrospective data from hospital records of HIV-infected pregnant women […]
Determinants and perceptions of the utilization of tetanus toxoid immunization among reproductive-age women in Dukem Town, Eastern Ethiopia: A community-based cross-sectional study
Background: Maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT) is still the major public health problem in about 25 countries, mainly in Africa and Asia. However, the utilization of intervention strategies, like tetanus toxoid (TT) immunization remains low in these countries. In Ethiopia, only 49% of the pregnant mothers received TT2+ in 2016. This study was designed to […]
Maternal and perinatal outcomes of birth preparedness and complication readiness in recently delivered women of a Southwestern Nigerian Town
Birth preparedness and complication readiness (BPCR) have been shown to increase knowledge of danger signs and enhance access to skilled obstetric care. Previous studies have focused on intermediate outcomes of BPCR such as utilization of skilled care for pregnancy and delivery. Aims: This study aims to determine the maternal and perinatal outcomes associated with birth […]
Factors associated with HIV infection among children born to mothers on the prevention of mother to child transmission programme at Chitungwiza Hospital, Zimbabwe, 2008
Background: Zimbabwe is one of the five countries worst affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic with HIV infection contributing increasingly to childhood morbidity and mortality. Among the children born to HIV positive mothers participating in the PMTCT programme, 25% tested positive to HIV. We investigated factors associated with HIV infection among children born to mothers on […]
Prevalence of iodine deficiency among pregnant women in Gwembe and Sinazongwe districts of Southern Province, Zambia: a cross-sectional study
Background: Maternal iodine deficiency is one of the common causes of morbidity and mortality during pregnancy. Maternal iodine deficiency during pregnancy is associated with a number of adverse outcomes such as abortion, stillbirth, congenital anomalies, perinatal mortality and irreversible mental retardation. A study conducted in Zambia among pregnant women in 2013 on the prevalence of […]
Factors Associated with the Uptake of Antenatal Tetanus Toxoids Containing Vaccine by First-Time Mothers in Nigeria: Findings from the 2018 Nigerian Demographic Health Survey
Background. Maternal and neonatal tetanus remains a public health problem in low-and-middle-income countries despite the increasing investment in tetanus toxoid containing vaccines (TTCV). Nigeria still records fatalities from tetanus, predominantly in women of reproductive age and in newborns. This is largely due to poor access to vaccinations and high rates of unsupervised labour and childbirth. […]
Incidence of neonatal mortality and its predictors among live births in Ethiopia: Gompertz gamma shared frailty model
Background: Neonatal mortality remains a serious public health concern in developing countries including Ethiopia. Ethiopia is one of the countries with the highest neonatal mortality in Africa. However, there is limited evidence on the incidence and predictors of neonatal mortality at the national level. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the incidence of neonatal mortality […]
Orphaned female elephant social bonds reflect lack of access to mature adults
Compensatory social behavior in nonhuman animals following maternal loss has been documented, but understanding of how orphans allocate bonding to reconstruct their social networks is limited. Successful social integration may be critical to survival and reproduction for highly social species and, therefore, may be tied to population persistence. We examined the social partners involved in […]
