Maternal & Child Health

Integrating the PEPFAR Technical Considerations into Health Services to Improve the Clinical Management of Children and Adolescents Who Have Experienced Sexual Violence in Kenya: Final Report

This final report documents achievements and lessons learned from the activity and includes the findings from a desk review and training needs assessment that informed the development of the new training module and supplemental training and performance support materials. [from resource]

How Do Malawian Women Rate the Quality of Maternal and Newborn Care? Experiences and Perceptions of Women in the Central and Southern Regions

Our objective was to measure women’s perceived quality of maternal and newborn care using a composite scale and to identify individual and service delivery factors associated with such perceptions in Malawi. [from abstract]

Birth Location Preferences of Mothers and Fathers in Rural Ghana: Implications for Pregnancy, Labor and Birth Outcomes

Maternal deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa are largely preventable with health facility delivery assisted by skilled birth attendants. Examining associations of birth location preferences on pregnant women’s experiences is important to understanding delays in care seeking in the event of complications. We explored the influence of birth location preference on women’s pregnancy, labor and birth outcomes. [from abstract]

Effect of Applying Performance Improvement Model on Ante-Natal Care Nurses Performance in Family Heath Centers in Qena City

This study attempts to identify the effect of applying performance impr ovement model on antenatal care nurses’ performance in family health centers. [adapted from abstract]

Specialist Services in the Indian Rural Public Health System for Maternal and Child Healthcare – A Study of Four States

The present study attempts to examine the role of specialist services in rural public health system of India in the areas of maternal and child healthcare. The study uses primary data collected through a survey of doctors and paramedical staff working at public health facilities regarding availability and quality of the specialist services in gynaecology, paediatrics and anaesthesia.

Training and Deploying Human Resources for Health for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health in Rural Africa: An In-Depth Policy Analysis

The majority of African countries lack sufficient human resources for health (HRH) to deliver basic maternal, newborn, child health (MNCH) care, particularly in rural areas. To inform planning for the scarce HRH available, specifically as it pertains to the Millennium Development Goals and the post-2015 agenda, a rapid systematic review of evidence on training and deployment policies for doctors, nurses and midwives for MNCH in rural Africa was undertaken. [from abstract]

Use of Mobile Phone Consultations During Home Visits by Community Health Workers for Maternal and Newborn Care: Community Experiences from Masindi and Kiryandongo Districts, Uganda

Home visits by Community Health Workers [In Uganda Community Health Workers are given the collective term of Village Health Teams (VHIs). This is recommended to improve maternal and newborn care. We investigated perceived maternal and newborn benefits of home visits made by VHTs, combined with mobile phone consultations with professional health workers for advice. [adapted from abstract]

Progress for Children Beyond Averages: Learning from the MDGs (No. 11)

This eleventh edition of Progress for Children is UNICEF’s final report on the child-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It presents latest data that show while the MDGs helped drive tremendous advances in the lives of the world’s children, development efforts in the past 15 years failed to reach millions of the most disadvantaged. The report spotlights where the international community must now focus attention and action to reach the most vulnerable children and achieve sustainable growth. [from abstract]

A Multi-Country Assessment of Providers of Community Based Maternity Care in Resource Limited Countries

This review explored providers of community maternal and newborn care in resource poor countries. The objectives were to identify community based maternity carers, their roles and functions, how they can complement the current global focus on skilled birth attendance, and to identify the enablers and barriers to their involvement in the continuum of care. [from abstract]

Assessment of Provider Competence and Quality of Maternal/Newborn Care in Selected Latin American and Caribbean Countries

To obtain a snapshot of the maternal and newborn care provided by different types of maternal and child health providers in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) to 1) better inform advocacy and programmatic strategies and interventions to improve the quality of those services in the region, and 2) determine the need for more rigorous study of the issues. [from abstract]

mHealth Field Guide for Newborn Health

This guide that explains how mHealth serves newborn health through referral and tracking of mothers and infants, decision support for CHWs, CHW supervision, scheduling and tracking postpartum and postnatal visits, and teaching and counseling for mothers and families. Case studies are provided from Afghanistan, India, Malawi and Indonesia. Links to resources for planning, implementation and evaluation are included along with lessons learned across the case studies. [from abstract]

A Practical Guide for Engaging with Mobile Operators in mHealth for RMNCH

The field of mobile health (mHealth) is experiencing a real need for guidance on public–private partnerships
among players as diverse as the mobile industry, technology vendors, government stakeholders and mHealth service providers. This guide provides a practical resource for mHealth service providers (e.g.

Optimizing Health Worker Roles to Improve Access to Key Maternal and Newborn Health Interventions through Task Shifting

The objective of this guidance is to issue evidence-based recommendations to facilitate universal access to key, effective maternal and newborn interventions through the optimization of health worker roles. These recommendations are intended for health policy-makers, managers and other stakeholders at a regional, national and international level. [from introduction]

Antenatal Care Strengthening for Improved Quality of Care in Jimma, Ethiopia: An Effectiveness Study

The aims of this study were to design a participatory antenatal care (ANC) strengthening intervention and assess the implementation process and effectiveness on quality of ANC in Jimma, Ethiopia. [from abstract]

Maternal and Child Health in South Sudan: Priorities for the Post-2015 Agenda

This review of the literature offers a commentary and appraisal of the current MNCH [maternal, newborn and child health] situation in South Sudan. It explores the barriers and challenges of promoting MNCH gains, and identifies priorities that will contribute to addressing the Millennium Development Goals and the emerging health priorities for the post-2015 development agenda. [from abstract]

Who is Assisting Women to Deliver Babies within Health Facilities? An Analysis of Deliveries in Four Provinces in Zambia

Skilled birth attendance (SBA) has been shown to reduce maternal mortality and improve birth outcomes. Because skilled professionals are supposed to be present in health facilities, increasing facility deliveries is expected to increase SBA. However, in a country with a critical shortage of skilled health personnel, is this always the case? We present data from three studies conducted in Zambia to understand SBA and delivery practices in health facilities. [from abstract]

Critical Maternal Health Knowledge Gaps in Low- and Middle-Income Countries for Post-2015: Researchers’ Perspectives

Between June and October 2014, the Maternal Health Task Force (MHTF) consulted 26 international maternal health researchers to gather perspectives on the most critical and neglected areas for knowledge generation to improve maternal health in low- and middle-income countries. [from introduction]

Using the Lives Saved Tool as Part of Evaluations of Community Case Management Programs

Integrated community case management (iCCM) has been recommended by the World Health Organization to reduce mortality among children in populations with limited access to facility–based health care providers. Although many countries have introduced iCCM, interpretation of the impact is difficult due to many other activities occurring in the community. This paper suggests a method for using the Lives Saved Tool to model the independent impact of iCCM on child mortality. [from abstract]

Modeling Potential Reduction of Child Mortality After National Scale-Up of Community-Based Treatment of Childhood Illnesses in Ethiopia

Since 2010, 28,000 female health extension workers (HEWs) received training and support to provide integrated community based case management (iCCM) of childhood pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria, and severe malnutrition in Ethiopia. We conducted a modeling exercise using two scenarios to project the potential reduction of the under five mortality rate due to the iCCM program in the four agrarian regions of Ethiopia. [from abstract]

National Scale-Up of Integrated Community Case Management in Rural Ethiopia: Implementation and Early Lessons Learned

In 2010, Ethiopia added pneumonia to diarrhea, malaria and severe acute malnutrition, targeted for treatment in the integrated community case management (iCCM) strategy. This article describes the national scale-up of iCCM implementation and early lessons learned. [from abstract]

Factors Affecting Choice of Place for Childbirth Among Women in Ahferom Woreda, Tigray, 2013

Reduction of maternal mortality is a global priority particularly in developing countries including
Ethiopia where maternal mortality ratio is one of the highest in the world. The key to reducing maternal mortality ratio is increasing attendance by skilled health personnel throughout pregnancy and delivery. However, delivery service is significantly lower in Tigray region. Therefore, this study aimed to assess factors affecting choice of place of child birth among women in Ahferom woreda. [from abstract]

Health Care Providers’ Perceptions of and Attitudes Towards Induced Abortions in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia: A Systematic Literature Review of Qualitative and Quantitative Data

The aim of this study was to identify, summarise and synthesise available research addressing health care providers’ perceptions of and attitudes towards induced abortions in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. [from abstract]

Maternal Mortality: A Cross-Sectional Study in Global Health

Although most of maternal deaths are preventable, maternal mortality reduction programs have not been completely successful. As targeting individuals alone does not seem to be an effective strategy to reduce maternal mortality (Millennium Development Goal 5), the present study sought to reveal the role of many distant macrostructural factors affecting maternal mortality at the global level. [from abstract]

Implementation of the WHO Safe Childbirth Checklist Program at a Tertiary Care Setting in Sri Lanka: A Developing Country Experience

To study institutionalization of the World Health Organization’s Safe Childbirth Checklist (SCC) in a tertiary care center in Sri Lanka. [from abstract]

Maternal Satisfaction with the Delivery Services in Assela Hospital, Arsi Zone, Oromia Region

Objective of this paper is to assess maternal satisfaction with the delivery service in Assela hospital, Arsi zone, Oromia region. [from abstract]

Poor Availability of Skilled Birth Attendants in Nigeria: A Case Study of Enugu State Primary Health Care System

The Government of Enugu State plans to offer free perinatal services at the primary health care (PHC) centers in order to improve perinatal outcomes in the state, but it was not clear whether there are skilled birth attendants (SBAs) at the PHC level to implement the program. This study aims to determine whether there are sufficient numbers of SBAs in the public PHC system in Enugu State of Nigeria. [adapted from abstract]

Traditional Birth Attendants and Women's Health Practices: A Case Study of Patani in Southern Nigeria

Despite the existence of modern health facilities in Nigeria, over 58 percent of deliveries take place at home. As outcomes of pregnancy and their sequelae are purely left to the providence of women in many rural communities, the place of delivery is a great determinant of maternal and child morbidity and mortality. [from abstract]

Adding It Up 2014: The Costs and Benefits of Investing in Sexual and Reproductive Health

The 2014 edition of Adding It Up expands the scope of the report and provides new estimates of the needs for and costs and benefits of sexual and reproductive health interventions in the following key areas: contraceptive services; maternal, newborn and other pregnancy-related care; selected services related to HIV prevention; and treating women for four other common STIs. [from introduction]

Barriers and Motivators to Early Utilization of Ante Natal Care Services in Chipinge South District in Zimbabwe: A Qualitative Study

Zimbabwe is ranked amongst the countries with highest maternal mortality rate in the world. Lack of early Ante
Natal Care (ANC) use and home deliveries by pregnant women are amongst the drivers of maternal mortality in the
country. The study therefore delved on identifying barriers and motivators to early use of ANC and delivering at health
facilities in Chipinge South District [from abstract]

Sexual and Reproductive Health: Progress and Outstanding Needs

We examine progress towards the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) commitment to provide universal access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services by 2014, with an emphasis on changes for those living in poor and emerging economies. [from abstract]