Comparing level of food insecurity between households with and without home gardening practices in Zege, Amhara region, North West Ethiopia: Community based study
Background Globally, close to 1 billion people suffer from hunger and food insecurity. Evidence showed that prevalence of household food insecurity in Ethiopia is ranged from 25.5%-75.8%. Home gardening is one way to alleviate food insecurity. Hence, the study aimed to determine level of food insecurity and its associated factors between home gardening and non-home […]
Prevalence and associated factors of early postnatal care service use among mothers who had given birth within the last 12 months in Adigrat town, Tigray, northern Ethiopia, 2018
Background: The care given for the first hours, days, and weeks after childbirth is life-threatening. So far, this period receives less attention from health-care providers than the care given to pregnancy and delivery. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and associated factors of early postnatal care service use among mothers who had given birth […]
Development of a Fetal Weight Chart Using Serial Trans-Abdominal Ultrasound in an East African Population: A Longitudinal Observational Study
Objective: To produce a fetal weight chart representative of a Tanzanian population, and compare it to weight charts from Sub-Saharan Africa and the developed world. Methods: A longitudinal observational study in Northeastern Tanzania. Pregnant women were followed throughout pregnancy with serial trans-abdominal ultrasound. All pregnancies with pathology were excluded and a chart representing the optimal […]
What makes advocacy work? Stakeholders’ voices and insights from prioritisation of maternal and child health programme in Nigeria
Background: The Nigerian government introduced and implemented a health programme to improve maternal and child health (MCH) called Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment programme for MCH (SURE-P/MCH). It ran from 2012 and ended abruptly in 2015 and was followed by increased advocacy for sustaining the MCH (antenatal, delivery, postnatal and immunization) services as a policy priority. […]
Patterns and predictors of gestational weight gain in Addis Ababa, Central Ethiopia: a prospective cohort study
Introduction: Gaining excessive or inadequate gestational weight is associated with many adverse maternal and fetal outcomes. Inadequate gestational weight gain (GWG) increases the risk of fetal growth restriction, pre-term birth, and low birth weight. It is a public health concern in sub-Saharan Africa. The aim of this study was to assess the patterns and predictors […]
Menhaden fish oil attenuates postpartum depression in rat model via inhibition of NLRP3-inflammasome driven inflammatory pathway
Background and aim: Postpartum depression (PPD) is a familiar problem which is associated with about 10–20% of women after child delivery. Fish oil (FO) has a therapeutic potentials to many diseases including mood disorders. However, there is paucity of data on the effects of FO supplementation on PPD rat model. Hence, this study aimed at […]
Exploring the effect of implementation and context on a stepped-wedge randomised controlled trial of a vital sign triage device in routine maternity care in low-resource settings
Background: Interventions aimed at reducing maternal mortality are increasingly complex. Understanding how complex interventions are delivered, to whom, and how they work is key in ensuring their rapid scale-up. We delivered a vital signs triage intervention into routine maternity care in eight low- and middle-income countries with the aim of reducing a composite outcome of […]
Health service barriers to HIV testing and counseling among pregnant women attending Antenatal Clinic; A cross-sectional study
Background: HIV testing and counseling (HTC) remains critical in the global efforts to reach a goal of universal access to prevention and timely human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) treatment and health care. Routine HIV testing has been shown to be cost-effective and life-saving by prolonging the life expectancy of HIV patients and reducing the annual HIV […]
Pay for performance: An analysis of the context of implementation in a pilot project in Tanzania
Background: Pay for performance schemes are increasingly being implemented in low income countries to improve health service coverage and quality. This paper describes the context within which a pay for performance programme was introduced in Tanzania and discusses the potential for pay for performance to address health system constraints to meeting targets. Method: 40 in-depth […]
Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice towards COVID-19 among Mothers in Dessie Town, Northeast Ethiopia, 2020
Background. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly infectious disease causing a catastrophic effect, and many of us are worried to find a new normal. Many burdens are occurring in households, predominantly to women and mothers. Women worldwide are naive on COVID-19 symptoms, transmission, and prevention measures and worried on being exposed to coronavirus. The […]