Determinants of maternal health services utilization in Uganda
Background: Uganda’s poor maternal health indicators have resulted from weak maternal health services delivery, including access to quality family planning, skilled birth attendance, emergency obstetric care, and postnatal care for mothers and newborns. This paper investigated the predictors of maternal health services (MHS) utilization characterized as: desirable, moderate and undesirable. Methods: We used a sample […]
Is there a threshold level of maternal education sufficient to reduce child undernutrition? Evidence from Malawi, Tanzania and Zimbabwe
Background: Maternal education is strongly associated with young child nutrition outcomes. However, the threshold of the level of maternal education that reduces the level of undernutrition in children is not well established. This paper investigates the level of threshold of maternal education that influences child nutrition outcomes using Demographic and Health Survey data from Malawi […]
Causes and contributing factors of maternal mortality in Bosaso District of Somalia. A retrospective study of 30 cases using a Verbal Autopsy approach
Background: Somali women suffer from one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. Somalia characterises a specific low-income country situation with a mix of newly urbanized and nomadic culture combined with a frail health care infrastructure set in a post-conflict era. Very little is known about the effects that these contextual factors can […]
Healthcare service providers’ and facility administrators’ perspectives of the free maternal healthcare services policy in Malindi District, Kenya: A qualitative study
Background: Globally, there are increasing efforts to improve maternal health outcomes including the reduction in maternal mortality rates. Improved access to skilled care utilisation during pregnancy and delivery has been one of the strategies employed to improve maternal health outcomes. In Kenya, more than half of the women deliver without the assistance of a skilled […]
ICT and Women’s Health: An Examination of the Impact of ICT on Maternal Health in SADC States
Attainment of sexual and reproductive health is regarded as a human rights matter. Notwithstanding this, maternal mortality continues to be a major public health concern in low-income countries, especially those in sub-Saharan Africa. Maternal mortality remains high in Africa, yet there are information communication technologies (ICTs) (such as the internet, mobile communi-cation, social media, and […]
Can Sierra Leone maintain the equitable delivery of their Free Health Care Initiative? the case for more contextualised interventions: Results of a cross-sectional survey
Background: In 2010, the Ministry of Health and Sanitation in Sierra Leone launched their Free Health Care Initiative (FHCI) for pregnant and lactating mothers and children under-5. Despite an increase in the update of services, the inequitable distribution of health services and health facilities remain important factors underlying the poor performance of health systems to […]
Age-based preventive targeting of food assistance and behaviour change and communication for reduction of childhood undernutrition in Haiti: a cluster randomised trial
Background: Food-assisted maternal and child health and nutrition programmes usually target underweight children younger than 5 years of age. Previous evidence suggests that targeting nutrition interventions earlier in life, before children become undernourished, might be more effective for reduction of childhood undernutrition. Methods: We used a cluster randomised trial to compare two World Vision programmes […]
Evaluation of the impact of the voucher and accreditation approach on improving reproductive behaviors and RH status: Bangladesh
Background: Cost of delivering reproductive health services to low-income populations will always require total or partial subsidization by the government and/or development partners. Broadly termed “Demand-Side Financing” or “Output-Based Aid”, includes a range of interventions that channel government or donor subsidies to the service user rather than the service provider. Initial findings from the few […]
Factors influencing antenatal care attendance for Bakiga and Indigenous Batwa women in Kanungu District, Southwestern Uganda
Introduction: The number of maternal deaths remains high in sub-Saharan Africa. Effective antenatal care (ANC) reduces maternal morbidity and mortality; therefore, provision of improved antenatal care services has been prioritised across sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, research is limited on the ANC experiences of Indigenous women in sub-Saharan Africa. This study characterised ANC attendance patterns at a […]
Too afraid to go: Fears of dignity violations as reasons for non-use of maternal health services in South Sudan
Background: South Sudan has one of the worst health and maternal health situations in the world. Across South Sudan, while maternal health services at the primary care level are not well developed, even where they exist, many women do not use them. Developing location specific understanding of what hinders women from using services is key […]
