Prevalence and outcome of teenage hospital births at the buea health district, South West Region, Cameroon
Background: Teenage pregnancy is a high-risk condition that requires skilled antenatal care for good outcome. World estimates in 2008 report about 16 million births to adolescent mothers, most of them occurring in low and middle-income countries. In Cameroon, about 12 % of all births are to adolescent mothers. This study determines the prevalence of hospital […]
Maternal depression is associated with child undernutrition: A cross-sectional study in Ethiopia
Child undernutrition is widespread in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) and is associated with health and economic losses. Undernutrition is estimated to contribute to 3.1 million deaths per year in children less than 5 years of age. A complex causal and contextual factors contributing to child undernutrition have been assessed, but maternal depression, which could […]
Health care in pregnancy during the COVID-19 pandemic and pregnancy outcomes in six low- and-middle-income countries: Evidence from a prospective, observational registry of the Global Network for Women’s and Children’s Health
Objective: To assess, on a population basis, the medical care for pregnant women in specific geographic regions of six countries before and during the first year of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in relationship to pregnancy outcomes. Design: Prospective, population-based study. Setting: Communities in Kenya, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Pakistan, India […]
Community-based postnatal care services for women and newborns in Kenya: an opportunity to improve quality and access?
Background In resource-constrained settings, Community Health Workers (CHWs) are the first point of contact between communities and the health system, as providers of maternal and newborn health services. However, little is known of the quality of community-based postnatal care (PNC). We assessed the content of PNC provided by CHWs and women’s experiences of care in […]
Perception and experience of health extension workers on facilitators and barriers to maternal and newborn health service utilization in ethiopia: A qualitative study
Background: Health extension workers (HEWs) have substantial inputs to reduce maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality in Ethiopia. However, their perceptions and experiences were not well understood. Therefore, this study aimed to explore their perceptions and experiences on facilitators and barriers to maternal and newborn health services in Ethiopia. Methods: A descriptive qualitative study was […]
The efficacy of maternal health education and maternal screening on knowledge and the uptake of infant screening for sickle cell disease in Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania; a quasi experimental study
Background: Globally, Sickle cell disease (SCD) is one of the most common genetic disease with high childhood mortality. Early identification of babies with SCD through newborn screening (NBS) and linking them to care are among the recommended interventions. The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of maternal health education and maternal screening […]
Maternal near-miss and death and their association with caesarean section complications: A cross-sectional study at a university hospital and a regional hospital in Tanzania
Background: The maternal near-miss (MNM) concept has been developed to assess life-threatening conditions during pregnancy, childhood, and puerperium. In recent years, caesarean section (CS) rates have increased rapidly in many low- and middle-income countries, a trend which might have serious effects on maternal health. Our aim was to describe the occurrence and panorama of maternal […]
Impact of perinatal and repeated maternal common mental disorders on educational outcomes of primary school children in rural Ethiopia: Population-based cohort study
Background There have been no studies from low- or middle-income countries to investigate the long-term impact of perinatal common mental disorders (CMD) on child educational outcomes.Aims To test the hypothesis that exposure to antenatal and postnatal maternal CMD would be associated independently with adverse child educational outcomes in a rural Ethiopian.Method A population-based birth cohort […]
Exposure to oil pollution and maternal outcomes: The Niger Delta prospective cohort study
Background Maternal exposure to oil pollution is an important public health concern. However, there is a dearth of literature on the effects of maternal exposure to oil pollution on maternal outcomes in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. This study was therefore designed to determine the effect of maternal exposure to oil pollution on maternal […]
Scaling up misoprostol to prevent postpartum hemorrhage at home births in Mozambique: A case study applying the ExpandNet/WHO framework
Background: Mozambique has a high maternal mortality ratio, and postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is a leading cause of maternal deaths. In 2015, the Mozambican Ministry of Health (MOH) commenced a program to distribute misoprostol at the community level in selected districts as a strategy to reduce PPH. This case study uses the ExpandNet/World Health Organization (WHO) […]