Quality cesarean delivery in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso: A comprehensive approach

Objective: To assess the effects of a comprehensive intervention (staff training, equipment, internal clinical audits, cost sharing system, patients-providers meetings) in improving cesarean delivery access and quality in an urban district of Burkina Faso. Methods: We conducted a before-after study in the health district sector 30 in Ouagadougou between 2003 and 2006. We measured cesarean […]

Giving Birth in a Foreign Land: Exploring the Maternal Healthcare Experiences of Zimbabwean Migrant Women Living in Johannesburg, South Africa

Maternal mortality in South Africa is unacceptably high, and interventions to address this are urgently needed. Whilst urban centres, such as Johannesburg, are home to significant numbers of non-national migrant women, little is known about their maternal healthcare experiences. In order to inform future research, an exploratory study investigating the maternal healthcare and help-seeking experiences […]

Factors associated with maternal utilization of health facilities for delivery in Ethiopia

Background: As a signatory of the Millennium Development Goals, Ethiopia has made significant achievements towards meeting the maternal mortality related goals since 1990. Despite that, the country is still experiencing unacceptably high maternal mortality rates, and challenges to improving the coverage and utilisation of health facility delivery services which represent a key strategy to combat […]

Challenges in accessing maternal and child health services during COVID-19 and the potential role of social networking technologies

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic causes new challenges to women and their babies who still need to access postnatal care amidst the crisis. The novel application of social network technologies (SNTs) could potentially enhance access to healthcare during this difficult time. Objectives: This study describes the challenges experienced in accessing maternal and child health services by […]

Trends and causes of socioeconomic inequalities in maternal healthcare in Ghana, 2003–2014

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess the trends of socioeconomic-related inequalities in maternal healthcare utilization in Ghana between 2003 and 2014 and examine the causes of inequalities in maternal healthcare utilization in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach: Data are drawn from three rounds of the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey collected in 2003, 2008 and […]

Effect of health systems strengthening in influencing maternal and neonatal health outcomes in Bungoma County, Kenya

Introduction: maternal and neonatal health status indicators have steadily improved over time in Kenya. Significant challenges remain, including persistent inequities between population subgroups, and a health system that delivers variable quality care and inconsistent access to care. This paper highlights results of an ex-post evaluation to assess the impact of maternal and health systems strengthening […]

High-risk fertility behaviours among women in sub-Saharan Africa

BACKGROUND: High-risk fertility behaviours such as too early or advanced age at delivery, shorter birth interval, birth order and a higher number of live births to a woman often lead to adverse maternal and child health outcomes. We assessed high-risk fertility behaviours and their associated factors among women in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). METHODS: Data on […]

Factors associated with the use of maternity services in Enugu, southeastern Nigeria

The maternal mortality ratio and other maternal health indicators are worse for developing countries than for the developed world due to improved access to quality care during pregnancy and especially at delivery in the industrialized world. This study was carried out to identify the factors which influenced choice of place of delivery by pregnant women […]

“If I Was Educated, I Would Call the Ambulance and Give Birth at the Health Facility”—A Qualitative Exploratory Study of Inequities in the Utilization of Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health Services in Northern Ethiopia

In earlier studies, we have shown that the utilization of maternal health services in rural Ethiopia was distributed in a pro-rich fashion, while the coverage of child immunization was equitably distributed. Hence, this study aimed to explore mothers’ and primary healthcare workers’ perceptions of inequities in maternal, newborn, and child health services in rural Ethiopia, […]

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