Barriers and facilitators to humanizing birth care in Tanzania: Findings from semi-structured interviews with midwives and obstetricians Prof. Suellen Miller

Background: In Tanzania, the provision of humanized care is increasingly being emphasized in midwifery practice, yet studies regarding perceptions and practices of skilled health personnel towards the humanization of birth care are scare. Previous reviews have identified that abuse and disrespect is not limited to individuals but reflects systematic failures and deeply embedded provider attitudes […]

Opportunities and challenges for improving anti-microbial stewardship in low- and middle-income countries; lessons learnt from the maternal sepsis intervention in western Uganda

This paper presents findings from an action-research intervention designed to identify ways of improving antimicrobial stewardship in a Ugandan Regional Referral Hospital. Building on an existing health partnership and extensive action-research on maternal health, it focused on maternal sepsis. Sepsis is one of the main causes of maternal mortality in Uganda and surgical site infection, […]

Accelerating Kenya’s progress to 2030: Understanding the determinants of under-five mortality from 1990 to 2015

Introduction Despite recent gains, Kenya did not achieve its Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target for reducing under-five mortality. To accelerate progress to 2030, we must understand what impacted mortality throughout the MDG period. Methods Trends in the under-five mortality rate (U5MR) were analysed using data from nationally representative Demographic and Health Surveys (1989-2014). Comprehensive, mixed-methods […]

The effect of maternal depressive symptoms on infant feeding practices in rural Ethiopia: community based birth cohort study

Background: Maternal depression and other psychosocial factors have been shown to have adverse consequences on infant feeding practices. This study explored the longitudinal relationship of maternal depressive symptoms and other selected psychosocial factors with infant feeding practices (IFPs) in rural Ethiopia using summary IFP index. Methods: This study uses existing data from the ENGINE birth […]

Birth preparedness, complication readiness and male partner involvement for obstetric emergencies in rural Rwanda

Introduction: Birth preparedness and complication readiness (BP/CR) promotes timely access to skilled maternal and neonatal services, active preparation and decision-making for seeking health care to prevent any adverse outcomes. The aim was to assess level of male partner (MP) involvement in the birth plan, the attitude of the women towards maternal care and factors associated […]

Women’s development group leaders’ promotion of maternal, neonatal and child health care in Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

Background: Women’s development group leaders are volunteer community health workers in Ethiopia who, among other duties, promote health and prevention of diseases. They link and extend essential health services from health posts to households. Objective: To assess the characteristics, knowledge, and practice of women’s development group leaders in the field of maternal, neonatal, and child […]

The role of health extension workers in improving utilization of maternal health services in rural areas in Ethiopia: A cross sectional study

Background: Community health workers are widely used to provide care for a broad range of health issues. Since 2003 the government of Ethiopia has been deploying specially trained new cadres of community based health workers named health extension workers (HEWs). This initiative has been called the health extension program. Very few studies have investigated the […]

Abortion-related near-miss morbidity and mortality in 43 health facilities with differences in readiness to provide abortion care in Uganda

Introduction With a view to inform policy for improved postabortion care, we describe abortion-related near-miss and mortality by sociodemographic risk factors and management options by pregnancy trimester in Uganda. Methods This secondary data analysis used an adapted WHO near-miss methodology to collect cross-sectional maternal near-miss and abortion complications data at 43 health facilities in Central […]

Influence of women’s decision-making autonomy on antenatal care utilisation and institutional delivery services in Nigeria: evidence from the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey 2018

Background: In the context of global health priority, understanding the role of power dynamics among women as an important intervention required towards achieving optimum maternal and child health outcomes is crucial. This study examined the influence of women’s decision-making autonomy on antenatal care utilisation and institutional delivery services in Nigeria. Methods: The data for the […]

Quality and outcomes of maternal and perinatal care for 76,563 pregnancies reported in a nationwide network of Nigerian referral-level hospitals

Background: The WHO in collaboration with the Nigeria Federal Ministry of Health, established a nationwide electronic data platform across referral-level hospitals. We report the burden of maternal, foetal and neonatal complications and quality and outcomes of care during the first year. Methods: Data were analysed from 76,563 women who were admitted for delivery or on […]