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 threat of maternal mortality can be reduced by increasing use of maternal health services. Maternal death and access to maternal health care services are inequitable in low and middle income countries.The aim of this study is to assess associated paternal factors and degree of inequity in access to maternal health care service utilization. METHODS Analysis illustrates on a cros...

BACKGROUND Maternal health care provision remains a major challenge in developing countries. There is agreement that the provision of quality clinical services is essential if high rates of maternal death are to be reduced. However, despite efforts to improve access to these services, a high number of women in Tanzania do not access them. The aim of this study is to explore women's views about ...

Two decades after the Safe Motherhood campaigns 1987 launch in India, half a million women continue to die from pregnancy-related causes every year. Key health-care interventions can largely prevent these deaths, but their use is limited in developing countries, and is reported to vary between population groups. We reviewed the use of maternal health-care interventions in developing countries t...

BACKGROUND Malawi is among the 5 sub-Saharan African countries presenting with very high maternal mortality rates, which remain a challenge. This study aims to examine the impact of wealth inequality and area of residence (urban vs rural) and education on selected indicators of maternal healthcare services (MHS) usage in Malawi. METHODS This study was based on data from the 5th round of Multi...

BACKGROUND The target for Millennium Development Goal 5 (MDG-5) is to reduce the maternal mortality ratio by three quarters between 1990 and 2015. The United Nations 2014 report on MDG-5 concluded that little progress had been made in the South Asian countries, including India, which accounts for 17% of all maternal deaths globally. In resource-poor economies with widespread disparities even wi...

Contextualising maternal health in countries with high maternal mortality is vital for designing and implementing effective health interventions. A research project was therefore conducted to explore practices, beliefs and traditions around pregnancy, delivery and postpartum in southeast Madagascar. Interviews and focus groups were conducted with 256 pregnant women, mothers of young children, c...

Every day, nearly 800 women die from complications of pregnancy and childbirth. A great many of these deaths are preventable; however, there is no single, straightforward solution. Because identifi cation of every woman who will have a life-threatening complication during pregnancy or childbirth is impossible, saving of women's lives during pregnancy and childbirth needs a systems approach with...

Despite a five decade old Family Welfare programme, India still continues to contribute almost a quarter of the global estimates of maternal morbidity and mortality. Quality aspects in maternal health care have long been ignored in the Indian public health system. It is only with the launch of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) that quality of care has been accorded due recognition at the...

Background: One of the most important indicators of quality of services and monitoring health services is evaluation and assessment of patient satisfaction of services that comes from sociology research. Aim: To identify the effect of providing post partum care at home on maternal received care and satisfaction. Method: This clinical trial was carried out on 200 mothers who referred to Akbar Ab...