BACKGROUND The prevalence of gestational diabetes (GDM) in low and lower middle income countries (LLMIC) is increasing. Despite its associated short and long term complications for mothers and their newborns, there is a lack of knowledge about how to detect and manage GDM. The objective of our study was to identify the challenges that first line healthcare providers in LLMIC face in screening a...

BACKGROUND The benefits of maternal health care to maternal and neonatal health outcomes have been well documented. Antenatal care attendance, institutional delivery and skilled attendance at delivery all help to improve maternal and neonatal health. However, use of maternal health services is still very low in developing countries with high maternal mortality including Ethiopia. This study exa...

BACKGROUND Egypt's longstanding commitment to safe motherhood and maternal health has paid off in substantial declines in maternal mortality ratio and significant improvement in the levels of many maternal health indicators. The current study aims to monitor trends of maternal health indicators and their socioeconomic inequities among Egyptian women over ten-year period (1995-2005). It poses th...

BACKGROUND Although gender inequality is often cited as a barrier to improving maternal health in sub-saharan Africa, there is lack of empirical data on how women's socio-cultural characteristics may influence use of health services in Nigeria. OBJECTIVE To describe how women's position in the household affects receipt of maternity care services. METHODS Secondary data analysis of 10,052 an...

BACKGROUND Nepal is on track to achieve MDG 5 but there is a huge sub-national disparity with existing high maternal mortality in western and hilly regions. The national priority is to reduce this disparity to achieve the goal at sub-national level. Evidences from developing countries show that increasing utilization of skilled attendant at birth is an important indicator for reducing maternal ...

BACKGROUND Improving maternal health remains a major challenge facing Malawi because at 984 deaths per 100,000 live births, the maternal mortality ratio is among the highest in the world. Although the health status of women in child-bearing age groups is low in all the three regions of Malawi, there are marked regional differences in several health indicators. OBJECTIVE To analyze the degree ...

This research investigated the association between the household status of women and their use of maternal health services in rural Egypt. Face-to-face interviews with a structured questionnaire to 201 married women were carried out in a village, posing questions about their health service utilization and their household socio-economic status. The association between service utilization and oth...

BACKGROUND Use of maternal health services is an effective means for reducing the risk of maternal morbidity and mortality, especially in places where the general health status of women is poor. This study was guided by the following objectives: 1) To determine the relationship between timing of first antenatal care (ANC) visit and type of delivery assistance 2) To establish the determinants of...

BACKGROUND Maternal mortality continues to be a heavy burden in low and middle income countries where half of all deliveries take place in homes without skilled attendance. The study aimed to investigate the underlying and proximate determinants of health facility childbirth in rural and urban areas of three districts in Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia. METHODS A population-based survey was conduc...

BACKGROUND High maternal mortality in India is a serious public health challenge. Demand side financing interventions have emerged as a strategy to promote access to emergency obstetric care. Two such state run programs, Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY)and Chiranjeevi Yojana (CY), were designed and implemented to reduce financial access barriers that preclude women from obtaining emergency obstetri...