Level of mother’s knowledge about neonatal danger signs and associated factors in North West of Ethiopia: A community based study
Background: Neonatal danger has become a substantial problem in many developing countries like Ethiopia. More specifically, neonatal rates in Ethiopia are among the highest in the world. In this regard, health-seeking behavior of mothers for neonatal care highly relies on their knowledge about neonatal danger sign, and it has been hardly investigated. Therefore, this study […]
Maintaining human milk bank services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic: A global response
If maternal milk is unavailable, the World Health Organization recommends that the first alternative should be pasteurised donor human milk (DHM). Human milk banks (HMBs) screen and recruit milk donors, and DHM principally feeds very low birth weight babies, reducing the risk of complications and supporting maternal breastfeeding where used alongside optimal lactation support. The […]
Understanding the implementation of Direct Health Facility Financing and its effect on health system performance in Tanzania: A non-controlled before and after mixed method study protocol
Background: Globally, good health system performance has resulted from continuous reform, including adaptation of Decentralisation by Devolution policies, for example, the Direct Health Facility Financing (DHFF). Generally, the role of decentralisation in the health sector is to improve efficiency, to foster innovations and to improve quality, patient experience and accountability. However, such improvements have not […]
Factors influencing women’s utilization of public health care services during childbirth in Malawi public health facility utilization
Background: Maternal mortality remains a public health challenge claiming many lives at the time of giving birth lives. However, there have been scanty studies investigating factors influencing women’s use of public health facilities during childbirth. Objective: The aim of the study was to explore the factors associated with women choice of public health facility during […]
An Assessment of Anesthesia Capacity in Liberia: Opportunities for Rebuilding Post-Ebola
BACKGROUND: The health system of Liberia, a low-income country in West Africa, was devastated by a civil war lasting from 1989 to 2003. Gains made in the post-war period were compromised by the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic. The already fragile health system experienced worsening of health indicators, including an estimated 111% increase in the country’s maternal […]
Impact of COVID-19 and mitigation plans on essential health services: institutional experience of a hospital in Ethiopia
Background: Health systems around the world are being challenged by an on-going COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic and associated response can have a significant downstream effect on access to routine health care services, and indirectly cause morbidity and mortality from causes other than the disease itself, especially in resource-poor countries such as Ethiopia. This study […]
Prevalence and Determinants of Rural-Urban Utilization of Skilled Delivery Services in Northern Ghana
Background. There are wide differences in the uptake of skilled delivery services between urban and rural women in the northern region of Ghana. This study assessed the rural-urban differences in the prevalence of and factors associated with uptake of skilled delivery in the northern region of Ghana. Methods. The study population comprised postpartum women who […]
The University of Zimbabwe College of Health Sciences (UZ-CHS) BIRTH COHORT study: Rationale, design and methods
Background: Commencing lifelong antiretroviral therapy (ART) immediately following HIV diagnosis (Option B+), has greatly improved maternal-infant health. Thus, large and increasing numbers of HIV-infected women are on ART during pregnancy, a situation concurrently increasing numbers of HIV-exposed-uninfected (HEU) infants. Compared to their HIV-unexposed-uninfected (HUU) counterparts, HEU infants show higher rates of adverse birth outcomes, mortality, […]
Childhood vaccination in informal urban settlements in Nairobi, Kenya: Who gets vaccinated?
Background: Recent trends in global vaccination coverage have shown increases with most countries reaching 90% DTP3 coverage in 2008, although pockets of undervaccination continue to persist in parts of sub-Saharan Africa particularly in the urban slums. The objectives of this study were to determine the vaccination status of children aged between 12-23 months living in […]
Determinants of antenatal and delivery care utilization in Tigray region, Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study
Introduction. Despite the international emphasis in the last few years on the need to address the unmet health needs of pregnant women and children, progress in reducing maternal mortality has been slow. This is particularly worrying in sub-Saharan Africa where over 162,000 women still die each year during pregnancy and childbirth, most of them because […]
