Abstract Background: There is further evidence of breast feeding benefits for mother and infant health. In some regions of the world the rate of exclusive breastfeeding during the first 6 months of infant’s life has been decreased. The most important factors associated with the problem are socio-economic variables such as maternal age, mother’s employment status, level of education, and infant...

BACKGROUND Tanzania is on track to meet Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 4 for child survival, but is making insufficient progress for newborn survival and maternal health (MDG 5) and family planning. To understand this mixed progress and to identify priorities for the post-2015 era, Tanzania was selected as a Countdown to 2015 case study. METHODS We analysed progress made in Tanzania betwee...

Acknowledgments We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to all of those who helped us develop this framework. We would particularly like to thank the CORE group for allowing us to present an earlier version of the framework at their fall meetings in Washington, D.C. Tsuma and their colleagues at the Maternal and Child Health Integrated Program office in Washington, D.C., and from Nahed Ma...

INTRODUCTION The most recent Health Campaign mounted by the Ministry of Health from October 16-18, focused on Integrated Maternal and Child Health. Common sense argues the case for Maternal Health and Child Health to be linked together as the two are inextricably intertwined; the successful delivery of a healthy child being dependent to a large extent on proper antenatal care and management of ...

BACKGROUND Iron deficiency is most commonly found in women of reproductive age and infants worldwide, but the influence of maternal iron deficiency on infant development is underexplored. OBJECTIVE The objective was to examine the relation between maternal iron status and mother-child interactions in a randomized, double-blind, intervention trial conducted in South Africa. DESIGN Women were...

BACKGROUND For years, Malawi remained at the bottom of league tables on maternal, neonatal and child health. Although maternal mortality ratios have reduced and significant progress has been made in reducing neonatal morality, many challenges in achieving universal access to maternal, newborn and child health care still exist in Malawi. In Malawi, there is still minimal, though increasing, male...

BACKGROUND Men's involvement in maternal and child health presents an opportunity for the advancement of maternal and child nutrition as men often play a key role in decision-making particularly regarding women's reproductive health. While most research on men's involvement in maternal and child health has focused on men's participation in antenatal care, this study focuses specifically on men'...

BACKGROUND Health-seeking behaviour lies on the direct pathway between socio-economic position (SEP) and health outcomes. The objective of this systematic review is to identify and synthesise evidence of socio-economic gradients in health-seeking behaviours related to maternal and child health in Egypt. METHODS Four databases (Medline, Embase, Global Health and Web of Science) were searched i...