Mental health symptoms and their relations with dietary diversity and nutritional status among mothers of young children in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo
Background: In developing countries, maternal mental health problems have been linked to sub-optimal child feeding practices and child underweight and stunting, but little is known about how maternal mental health is associated with mothers’ own diets and nutritional status. The objective of the study was to investigate the association between mental health symptoms and diet […]
Spatial autocorrelation in uptake of antenatal care and relationship to individual, household and village-level factors: Results from a community-based survey of pregnant women in six districts in western Kenya
Background: The majority of maternal deaths, stillbirths, and neonatal deaths are concentrated in a few countries, many of which have weak health systems, poor access to health services, and low coverage of key health interventions. Early and consistent antenatal care (ANC) attendance could significantly reduce maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. Despite this, most Kenyan […]
Limiting adverse birth outcomes in resource-limited settings (LABOR): Protocol of a prospective intrapartum cohort study
Background: Each year, nearly 300,000 women and 5 million fetuses or neonates die during childbirth or shortly thereafter, a burden concentrated disproportionately in low- and middle-income countries. Identifying women and their fetuses at risk for intrapartum-related morbidity and death could facilitate early intervention. Methods: The Limiting Adverse Birth Outcomes in Resource-Limited Settings (LABOR) Study is […]
Predictors of health-care utilization among children 6-59 months of age in zambézia province, Mozambique
Globally, approximately 5.9 million children under 5 years of age died in 2015, a reduction of over 50% since 1990. Millennium Development Goal 4 established the goal of reducing child mortality by two-thirds by 2015. Multiple countries have surpassed this goal; however, regional and within-country inequities exist. We sought to study determinants of health-care utilization […]
Traditional Practitioners and Nurses’ Perspectives on Traditional Medicine Utilisation During Antenatal Care in Matabeleland South Province, Zimbabwe
Background: Traditional Health System has been reported to be the most accessible, affordable, and acceptable in resource-poor settings, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is utilised for different health needs, including pregnancy management. This study sought to explore traditional and Nurses’ perspectives on traditional medicine utilisation during antenatal care in Bulilima District, Plumtree, Zimbabwe. Methods: A […]
What will it take to eliminate pediatric HIV? Reaching WHO target rates of mother-to-child HIV transmission in zimbabwe: A model-based analysis
Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for the “virtual elimination” of pediatric HIV: a mother-to-child HIV transmission (MTCT) risk of less than 5%. We investigated uptake of prevention of MTCT (PMTCT) services, infant feeding recommendations, and specific drug regimens necessary to achieve this goal in Zimbabwe. Methods and Findings: We used a computer […]
Determinants of maternal health services utilization in urban settings of the Democratic Republic of Congo – A Case study of Lubumbashi City
Background: The use of maternal health services, known as an indirect indicator of perinatal death, is still unknown in Lubumbashi. The present study was therefore undertaken in order to determine the factors that influence the use of mother and child healthcare services in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo.Methods: This was transversal study of women […]
The prevalence of abnormal Doppler’s of the umbilical artery in a low-risk pregnant population in South Africa
Background: The assessment of fetal blood flow using Doppler waveform can be used to identify placental insufficiency, and hence is a tool to identify fetuses at risk of stillbirth due to fetal growth restriction (FGR). In South Africa the largest category of perinatal deaths is ‘unexplained intrauterine death’. The majority of the mothers are clinically […]
Association between prenatal provision of lipid-based nutrient supplements and caesarean delivery: Findings from a randomised controlled trial in Malawi
In populations with a high prevalence of childhood and adolescent undernutrition, supplementation during pregnancy aiming at improving maternal nutritional status and preventing fetal growth restriction might theoretically lead to cephalopelvic disproportion and delivery complications. We investigated whether the prenatal provision of small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements (SQ-LNS) was associated with an increased risk of caesarean section […]
Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on maternal and perinatal health service utilisation and outcomes in Mozambique: an interrupted time series analysis
Objectives To measure the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on maternal and perinatal health services and outcomes in Mozambique. Design This is an observational study analysing routine service delivery data using interrupted time series analysis. We used 43 months of district-level panel data with April 2020 as the point of interruption, adjusting for seasonality and […]
