Maternal and newborn health services utilization in Jimma Zone, Southwest Ethiopia: A community based cross-sectional study
Background: Majority of causes of maternal and newborn mortalities are preventable. However, poor access to and low utilization of health services remain major barriers to optimum health of the mothers and newborns. The objectives of this study were to assess maternal and newborn health services utilization and factors affecting mothers’ health service utilization. Methods: A […]
Exploring women’s development group leaders’ support to maternal, neonatal and child health care: A qualitative study in Tigray region, Ethiopia
Background Community health workers and volunteers are vital for the achievement of Universal Health Coverage also in low-income countries. Ethiopia introduced community volunteers called women’s development group leaders in 2011. These women have responsibilities in multiple sectors, including promoting health and healthcare seeking. Objective We aimed to explore women’s development group leaders’ and health workers’ […]
Path analyses of risk factors for linear growth faltering in four prospective cohorts of young children in Ghana, Malawi and Burkina Faso
Stunting prevalence is an indicator of a country’s progress towards United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 2, which is to end hunger and achieve improved nutrition. Accelerating progress towards reducing stunting requires a deeper understanding of the factors that contribute to linear growth faltering. We conducted path analyses of factors associated with 18-month length-for-Age z-score (LAZ) […]
Reproductive health voucher program and facility based delivery in informal settlements in Nairobi: A longitudinal analysis
Introduction: In Kenya, the maternal mortality rate had ranged from 328 to 501 deaths per 100,000 live births over the last three decades. To reduce these rates, the government launched in 2006 a means-tested reproductive health output-based approach (OBA) voucher program that covers costs of antenatal care, a facility-based delivery (FBD) and a postnatal visit […]
Exploring survivor perceptions of pre-eclampsia and eclampsia in Nigeria through the health belief model
Background: In Nigeria, hypertensive disorders have become the leading cause of facility-based maternal mortality. Many factors influence pregnant women’s health-seeking behaviors and perceptions around the importance of antenatal care. This qualitative study describes the care-seeking pathways of Nigerian women who suffer from pre-eclampsia and eclampsia. It identifies the influences-barriers and enablers-that affect their decision making, […]
Effect of Mobile-health on maternal health care service utilization in Eastern Ethiopia: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial
Background: Globally, the rapid development of mobile technology has created new ways of addressing public health challenges and shifted the paradigm of health care access and delivery. The primary aim of this study is to examine the effectiveness of Mobile-health on maternal health care service utilization in Eastern Ethiopia. Methods/design: Through, a cluster-randomized controlled trial, […]
A Comprehensive Approach to Improving Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care in Kigoma, Tanzania
Introduction: To address high levels of maternal mortality in Kigoma, Tanzania, stakeholders increased women’s access to high-quality comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care (EmONC) by decentralizing services from hospitals to health centers where EmONC was delivered mostly by associate clinicians and nurses. To ensure that women used services, implementers worked to continuously improve and sustain […]
Multiple modifiable maternal, household and health service factors are associated with maternal nutrition and early breastfeeding practices in Burkina Faso
Low coverage of effective nutrition interventions in many high-burden countries, due to service provision and demand factors, result in poor uptake of recommended practices and nutrition outcomes. We examined the factors that influence maternal nutrition and early breastfeeding practices and determined the extent that the key factors could improve these practices in two regions in […]
Access to institutional delivery services and its associated factors among mothers in Jimma Zone, Southwest Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study
Background: Poor access to institutional delivery services has been known as a significant contributory factor to adverse maternal as well as newborn outcomes. Previous studies measured access in terms of utilization while it has different dimensions (geographic accessibility, availability, affordability, and acceptability) that requires to be measured separately. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess […]
Informing randomized clinical trials of respiratory syncytial virus vaccination during pregnancy to prevent recurrent childhood wheezing: A sample size analysis
Background: Early RSV illness is associated with wheeze-associated disorders in childhood. Candidate respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccines may prevent acute RSV illness in infants. We investigated the feasibility of maternal RSV vaccine trials to demonstrate reductions in recurrent childhood wheezing in general paediatric populations. Methods: We calculated vaccine trial effect sizes that depended on vaccine […]
