Maternal mental health in primary care in five low- and middle-income countries: A situational analysis
Background: The integration of maternal mental health into primary health care has been advocated to reduce the mental health treatment gap in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This study reports findings of a cross-country situation analysis on maternal mental health and services available in five LMICs, to inform the development of integrated maternal mental health […]
Piecing Together the Maternal Death Puzzle through Narratives: The Three Delays Model Revisited
Background: In Malawi maternal mortality continues to be a major public health challenge. Going beyond the numbers to form a more complete view of why women die is critical to improving access to and quality of emergency obstetric care. The objective of the current study was to identify the socio-cultural and facility-based factors that contributed […]
Risk factors for maternal mortality in rural tigray, northern Ethiopia: A case-control study
Background Maternal mortality continues to have devastating impacts in many societies, where it constitutes a leading cause of death, and thus remains a core issue in international development. Nevertheless, individual determinants of maternal mortality are often unclear and subject to local variation. This study aims to characterise individual risk factors for maternal mortality in Tigray, […]
Characterisation of induced abortion and consequences to women’s health at Hospital Central do Huambo–Angola
To characterise patients with abortion in Huambo, Angola, we have undertaken a descriptive, longitudinal, prospective survey. A structured questionnaire was applied to 715 patients. The study variables were grouped in socio-demographic and clinical-epidemiological variables. There were 29.8% women were aged 20–24, 45.6% had primary education, 41.1% were single and 26.9% worked as a non-formal salesperson. […]
Community health workers impact on maternal and child health outcomes in rural South Africa – a non-randomized two-group comparison study
Background: Home visits by paraprofessional community health workers (CHWs) has been shown to improve maternal and child health outcomes in research studies in many countries. Yet, when these are scaled or replicated, efficacy disappears. An effective CHW home visiting program in peri-urban Cape Town found maternal and child health benefits over the 5 years point […]
WHO 2010 guidelines for prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission in Zimbabwe: Modeling clinical outcomes in infants and mothers
Background: The Zimbabwean national prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) program provided primarily single-dose nevirapine (sdNVP) from 2002-2009 and is currently replacing sdNVP with more effective antiretroviral (ARV) regimens. Methods: Published HIV and PMTCT models, with local trial and programmatic data, were used to simulate a cohort of HIV-infected, pregnant/breastfeeding women in Zimbabwe (mean age […]
Where are the gaps in improving maternal and child health in Mauritania? The case for contextualised interventions: A cross sectional study
Introduction: It is estimated that any progress made towards improving maternal and child health in Mauritania has likely stalled. A lack of reliable and up-to-date data regarding maternal and child health indicators makes it difficult to identify current gaps and adapt international programmes to meet local needs Methods: Using secondary data collected as part of […]
Effectiveness of mHealth interventions targeting health care workers to improve pregnancy outcomes in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review
Background: Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) face the highest burden of maternal and neonatal deaths. Concurrently, they have the lowest number of physicians. Innovative methods such as the exchange of health-related information using mobile devices (mHealth) may support health care workers in the provision of antenatal, delivery, and postnatal care to improve maternal and neonatal […]
Distance is “a big problem”: a geographic analysis of reported and modelled proximity to maternal health services in Ghana
Background: Geographic barriers to healthcare are associated with adverse maternal health outcomes. Modelling travel times using georeferenced data is becoming common in quantifying physical access. Multiple Demographic and Health Surveys ask women about distance-related problems accessing healthcare, but responses have not been evaluated against modelled travel times. This cross-sectional study aims to compare reported and […]
Exploring health-seeking behavior among adolescent mothers during the Ebola epidemic in Western rural district of Freetown, Sierra Leone
Background: From 2014 to 2016, the largest Ebola outbreak in history threatened Sierra Leone and its neighbouring countries, Guinea and Liberia. The Ebola outbreak impacted pregnant adolescent girl’s access to prenatal care during the pandemic. The aim of this study is to understand health-seeking behaviour among adolescent mothers who were pregnant during the Ebola epidemic […]
