Food Crop Diversity, Women’s Income-Earning Activities, and Distance to Markets in Relation to Maternal Dietary Quality in Tanzania

Background: Women’s dietary diversity and quality are limited in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Nutrition-sensitive interventions that promote food crop diversity and women’s access to income could improve diets and address the double burden of malnutrition in LMICs. Objectives: We examined the associations among food crop diversity and women’s income-earning activities with women’s diet quality, […]

Inadequate programming, insufficient communication and non-compliance with the basic principles of maternal death audits in health districts in Burkina Faso: A qualitative study

Background: Implementation of quality maternal death audits requires good programming, good communication and compliance with core principles. Studies on compliance with core principles in the conduct of maternal death audits (MDAs) exist but were conducted in urban areas, at the 2nd or 3rd level of the healthcare system, in experimental situations, or in a context […]

A combined community- and facility-based approach to improve pregnancy outcomes in low-resource settings: A Global Network cluster randomized trial

Background: Fetal and neonatal mortality rates in low-income countries are at least 10-fold greater than in high-income countries. These differences have been related to poor access to and poor quality of obstetric and neonatal care. Methods: This trial tested the hypothesis that teams of health care providers, administrators and local residents can address the problem […]

Readiness of public health facilities to provide quality maternal and newborn care across the state of Bihar, India: A cross-sectional study of district hospitals and primary health centres

Introduction: Poor access to quality healthcare is one of the most important reasons of high maternal and neonatal mortality in India, particularly in poorer states like Bihar. India has implemented initiatives to promote institutional maternal deliveries. It is important to ensure that health facilities are adequately equipped and staffed to provide quality care for mothers […]

Tamil Nadu Pregnancy and Heart Disease Registry (TNPHDR): design and methodology

Background: Cardiac disease in pregnancy is a major contributor to maternal mortality in high, middle and low-income countries. Availability of data on outcomes of pregnancy in women with heart disease is important for planning resources to reduce maternal mortality. Prospective data on outcomes and risk predictors of mortality in pregnant women with heart disease (PWWHD) […]

Trend in female genital mutilation and its associated adverse birth outcomes: A 10-year retrospective birth registry study in Northern Tanzania

Background Approximately 200 million women and girls were reported to have undergone female genital mutilation worldwide in 2015.UNICEF’s data based on household survey estimates 15% of women from 15–49 years have undergone FGM from year 2004–2015. Despite this, reliable data on trend of prevalence of female genital mutilation and its associated birth outcomes have not […]

Lack of head sparing following third-trimester caloric restriction among Tanzanian Maasai

The reduction of food intake during pregnancy is part of many cultural and religious traditions around the world. The impact of such practices on fetal growth and development are poorly understood. Here, we examined the patterns of diet intake among Maasai pregnant women and assessed their effect on newborn morphometrics. We recruited 141 mother-infant pairs […]

Contribution of community-based newborn health promotion to reducing inequities in healthy newborn care practices and knowledge: Evidence of improvement from a three-district pilot program in Malawi

Background: Inequities in both health status and coverage of health services are considered important barriers to achieving Millennium Development Goal 4. Community-based health promotion is a strategy that is believed to reduce inequities in rural low-income settings. This paper examines the contributions of community-based programming to improving the equity of newborn health in three districts […]

Association between maternal stature and household-level double burden of malnutrition: findings from a comprehensive analysis of Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey

Background: Undernutrition among under-five children is one of the intractable public health problems in Ethiopia. More recently, Ethiopia faced a rising problem of the double burden of malnutrition—where a mother may be overweight/obese, and a child is stated as having undernutrition (i.e., stunting, wasting, or underweight) under the same roof. The burden of double burden […]

Causes of maternal deaths and delays in care: Comparison between routine maternal death surveillance and response system and an obstetrician expert panel in Tanzania

Background: To reduce maternal mortality Tanzania introduced Maternal Death Surveillance and Response (MDSR) system in 2015 as recommended by World Health Organization (WHO). All health facilities are to notify and review all maternal deaths inorder to recommend quality improvement actions to reduce deaths in future. The system relies on consistent and correct categorization of causes […]