Ethnicity, gender, and migration status: Applying intersectionality methodology to explore barriers to equitable health systems for maternal and newborn health among immigrant populations in Masindi, Uganda
Globally, 298,000 women die due to pregnancy related causes and half of this occurs in Africa. In Uganda, maternal mortality has marginally reduced from 526 to 336 per 100,000 live births between 2001 and 2016. Health facility delivery is an important factor in improving maternal and neonatal outcomes. However, the concept of using a skilled […]
Barriers and strategies needed to improve maternal health services among pregnant adolescents in Uganda: a qualitative study
Background: In Uganda, the uptake of maternal health services is very low, with only 41.1% of pregnant adolescent girls attending the eight antenatal visits that are recommended by the World Health Organisation. Uptake of maternal health services is essential in reducing the current level of adolescent pregnancies as well as its adverse effects on adolescent […]
Retrospective review of maternal deaths in Hawassa Comprehensive Specialised Hospital, in Southern Ethiopia
The aim of this study was to evaluate the causes of and contributors to maternal death at Hawassa Referral Comprehensive Specialised Hospital (HRCSH). A health facility–based, maternal death review was used. All maternal deaths that occurred between January 2016 and August 2017 in HRCSH were included. Data were collected using a structured data collection sheet […]
Predictors of maternal and newborn health service utilization across the continuum of care in Ethiopia: A multilevel analysis
Background The continuum of care for maternal and newborn health is a systematic approach for delivery of an integrated effective package of life-saving interventions throughout pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum as well as across levels of service delivery to women and newborns. Nonetheless, in low-income countries, coverage of these interventions across the life cycle continuum is […]
Challenges women with disability face in accessing and using maternal healthcare services in Ghana: A qualitative study
Background: While a number of studies have examined the factors affecting accessibility to and utilisation of healthcare services by persons with disability in general, there is little evidence about disabled women’s access to maternal health services in low-income countries and few studies consult disabled women themselves to understand their experience of care and the challenges […]
Maternal nutrition in rural Kenya: Health and socio-demographic determinants and its association with child nutrition
High levels of food insecurity and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection place most breastfeeding mothers in Kenya at high risk of malnutrition. We examined the role of selected socio-economic, demographic and health factors as determinants of nutritional status among HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected mothers in rural Kenya and further examined the interrelationship between maternal nutritional and […]
Administrators, health service providers, and consumers perspectives of functions of district health-care systems in Oromia region, Ethiopia: A qualitative study
The practice of functions of district health-care systems in Ethiopia is not clear. The aim of this study was to investigate the perspectives of administrators, health service providers, and health-care consumers regarding functions of district health-care systems as currently practiced. Grounded theory approach was applied using interviews and desk review of documents. This study was […]
“the system here isn’t on patients’ side”- perspectives of women and men on the barriers to accessing and utilizing maternal healthcare services in South Sudan
Background: In fragile and war-affected setting such as South Sudan, a combination of physical environmental, socioeconomic factors and healthcare’s characteristic contributes to higher rates of home delivery attended by unskilled attendants. This study aims to understand the community members’ experience, perceptions and the barriers in relation to accessing and utilizing maternal healthcare services in South […]
Availability and affordability of priority lifesaving maternal health medicines in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Background: Access to life-saving medicines for maternal health remains a major challenge in numerous developing nations. Periodic and continuous assessment of access to lifesaving commodities is of enormous importance to measure progress and ensure sustainable supply. This study aimed to assess the availability and affordability of priority lifesaving maternal medicines in Addis Ababa in January […]
Poor quality for poor women? Inequities in the quality of antenatal and delivery care in Kenya
Background: Quality of healthcare is an important determinant of future progress in global health. However, the distributional aspects of quality of care have received inadequate attention. We assessed whether high quality maternal care is equitably distributed by (1) mapping the quality of maternal care in facilities located in poorer versus wealthier areas of Kenya; and […]
