Effects of antenatal care and institutional delivery on exclusive breastfeeding practice in northwest Ethiopia: A nested case-control study
Background: For the first six months of life, breast milk is the ideal food to provide adequate quality and quantity of nutrients. Exclusive breastfeeding has a profound effect to reduce the risk of respiratory and gastrointestinal related morbidities as well as all-cause and infection-related neonatal mortalities. Despite the immense benefits of exclusive breastfeeding, the practice […]
Prevalence and determinants of essential newborn care practices in the Lawra District of Ghana
Background: There was less than satisfactory progress, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, towards child and maternal mortality targets of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5. The main aim of this study was to describe the prevalence and determinants of essential new newborn care practices in the Lawra District of Ghana. Methods: A cross-sectional study was […]
Chlorhexidine cord care after a national scale-up as a newborn survival strategy: A survey in four regions of Ethiopia
Introduction Chlorhexidine cord care is an effective intervention to reduce neonatal infection and death in resource constrained settings. The Federal Ministry of Health of Ethiopia adopted chlorhexidine cord care in 2015, with national scale-up in 2017. However, there is lack of evidence on the provision of this important intervention in Ethiopia. In this paper, we […]
To evaluate if increased supervision and support of South African Government health workers’ home visits improves maternal and child outcomes: Study protocol for a randomized control trial
Background: Concurrent epidemics of HIV, depression, alcohol abuse, and partner violence threaten maternal and child health (MCH) in South Africa. Although home visiting has been repeatedly demonstrated efficacious in research evaluations, efficacy disappears when programs are scaled broadly. In this cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT), we examine whether the benefits of ongoing accountability and supervision […]
Mapping the prevalence and sociodemographic characteristics of women who deliver alone: Evidence from demographic and health surveys from 80 countries
Evidence has shown that quality skilled care during labor and delivery is essential to improve maternal and newborn health outcomes. Unfortunately, analyses of Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data show that there are a substantial number of women around the world that not only do not have access to skilled care but also deliver alone […]
Determinants to late antenatal clinic start among pregnant women: The case of Saint Elizabeth general hospital, Shisong, Cameroon
Introduction: to improve maternal health, barriers that limit access to quality maternal health services must be identified and addressed at all levels of the health system. The World Health Organisation (WHO) cites distance to health facility and inadequate health institutions as factors that prevent women from receiving or seeking care during pregnancy and childbirth. Specifically, […]
Factors affecting birth preparedness and complication readiness in Jimma Zone, Southwest Ethiopia: A multilevel analysis
Introduction: birth preparedness and complication readiness have been considered as comprehensive strategy aimed at promoting the timely utilization of skilled maternal health care. However, its status and affecting factors have not been well studied at different levels in the study area. Thus, this study was aimed to fill this gap by conducting community based study. […]
Inequalities in adherence to the continuum of maternal and child health service utilization in Ethiopia: multilevel analysis
Background: Despite progress made to improve access to child health services, mothers’ consistent utilization of these services has been constrained by several factors. This study is aimed at assessing the inequalities in key child health service utilization and assess the role of antenatal care (ANC) on subsequent service use. Method: The analysis of the present […]
What prevents pregnant women from adhering to the continuum of maternal care? Evidence on interrelated mechanisms from a cohort study in Kenya
Objectives To examine the determinants of the continuum of maternal care from an integrated perspective, focusing on how key components of an adequate journey are interrelated. Design A facility-based prospective cohort study. Setting 25 health facilities across three counties of Kenya: Nairobi, Kisumu and Kakamega. Participants A total of 5 879 low-income pregnant women aged […]
Seasonality of antenatal care attendance, maternal dietary intake, and fetal growth in the VHEMBE birth cohort, South Africa
Background Seasonality of food availability, physical activity, and infections commonly occurs within rural communities in low and middle-income countries with distinct rainy seasons. To better understand the implications of these regularly occurring environmental stressors for maternal and child health, this study examined seasonal variation in nutrition and health care access of pregnant women and infants […]
