Morbidity and use of maternal health care among women in the city of Marrakech. Correlations with the rural exodus and with socioeconomic and biodemographic factors
survey was made in 2008 in the city of Marrakech among a sample of 1,202 women who had given birth within the previous five years, in order to discern the effects of migration from rural areas on access to maternal health care and on maternal morbidity. The results show significant differences between women born in […]
Examining inequality of opportunity in the use of maternal and reproductive health interventions in Sierra Leone
Background: Poor countries, such as Sierra Leone, often have poor health outcomes, whereby the majority of the population cannot access lifesaving health services. Access to, and use of, maternal and reproductive health services is crucial for human development, especially in developing regions. However, inequality remains a persistent problem for many developing countries. Moreover, we have […]
Unmet need for essential obstetric services in a rural district in northern Ghana: Complications of unsafe abortions remain a major cause of mortality
Aim: The aim of this study was to review 4 years of hospital data on antenatal services, deliveries and maternal deaths as the baseline evaluation for a programme to improve care. Methods: Descriptive analyses were made of data extracted from the monthly returns charts and clinical notes on all maternal deaths from January 2001 to […]
Determinants of access to health care among women in East African countries: A multilevel analysis of recent demographic and health surveys from 2008 to 2017
Background: Access to essential health care is one of the major factors associated with maternal mortality. In developing countries, improving women’s access to health care has significantly reduced maternal death. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the determinants of access to health care among women in East African countries based on 2008 to 2017 Demographic […]
Timing and utilization of antenatal care services in Liberia: Understanding the pre-Ebola epidemic context
In Liberia, 75% of those who died from 2014 Ebola epidemic were women and the effects of this gruelling epidemic were more severely felt by pregnant women. This immediately raised fears about the long-term impacts of the epidemic on maternal and child health. As part of a larger study, this paper uses Andersen’s behavioural model […]
Institutional delivery in Ethiopia: Alternative options for improvement
Maternal mortality is a critical healthcare system quality indicator and is measured by the number of maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births. Despite huge achievements towards reducing maternal mortality, the prevalence of maternal death remains unacceptably high in developing countries including Ethiopia. A recent study in Ethiopia reported a maternal mortality ratio of 857/100,000 […]
Tracking progress towards safe motherhood: Meeting the benchmark yet missing the goal? An appeal for better use of health-system output indicators with evidence from Zambia and Sri Lanka
Objectives Indicators of health-system outputs, such as Emergency Obstetric Care (EmOC) density, have been proposed for monitoring progress towards reducing maternal mortality, but are currently underused. We seek to promote them by demonstrating their use at subnational level, evaluating whether they differentiate between a high-maternal-mortality country (Zambia) and a low-maternal-mortality country (Sri Lanka) and assessing […]
Are Indigenous research principles incorporated into maternal health research? A scoping review of the global literature
Background: Indigenous women world-wide are diverse and heterogenous, yet many have similar experiences of colonization, land dispossession, and discrimination. These experiences along with inequitable access to, and quality of, maternal healthcare increase adverse maternal health outcomes. To improve health outcomes for Indigenous women, studies must be conducted with Indigenous involvement and reflect Indigenous research principles. […]
Caesarean section in Benin and Mali: increased recourse to technology due to suffering and under-resourced facilities: Increased recourse to caesarean sections in Mali and Benin
In line with policies to combat maternal mortality, the medicalization of childbirth is increasing in low-income countries, while access to healthcare services remains difficult for many women. High caesarean section rates have been documented recently in hospitals in Mali and Benin, illustrating an a-priori paradoxical situation, compared with low caesarean section rates in the population. […]
Access to health care, reproductive health and disability: A large scale survey in Sierra Leone
This is the first study to compare health status and access to health care services between disabled and non-disabled men and women in urban and peri-urban areas of Sierra Leone. It pays particular attention to access to reproductive health care services and maternal health care for disabled women. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2009 […]
