BACKGROUND Despite clear evidence regarding how social determinants of health and structural inequities shape health, Aboriginal women's birth outcomes are not adequately understood as arising from the historical, economic and social circumstances of their lives. The purpose of this study was to understand rural Aboriginal women's experiences of maternity care and factors shaping those experien...

INTRODUCTION In Australia, over 50% of small rural maternity units have been closed in the past two decades. Workforce shortages, safety and quality concerns and cost considerations are the three interrelated reasons that have led to these closures. Women and families face many challenges when these critical services are absent from their local communities. In an effort to continue to provide m...

BACKGROUND Canada's diverse society and its statutory commitment to multiculturalism means that a synthesis of knowledge related to the healthcare experiences of immigrants is essential to realise the health potential for future Canadians. Although concerns about the maternity experiences of immigrants in Canada are relatively new, recent national guidelines explicitly call for the tailoring of...

BACKGROUND Making use of good, evidence based routines, for management of normal childbirth is essential to ensure quality of care and prevent, identify and manage complications if they occur. Two essential routine care interventions as defined by the World Health Organization are the use of the Partograph and Active Management of the Third Stage of Labour. Both interventions have been evaluate...

BACKGROUND The World Health Organization recently made a recommendation supporting 'culturally-appropriate' maternity care services to improve maternal and newborn health. This recommendation results, in part, from a systematic review we conducted, which showed that interventions to provide culturally-appropriate maternity care have largely improved women's use of skilled maternity care. Factor...

OBJECTIVE the aim is to explore the psychosocial needs of women who are pregnant after assisted conception, specifically in vitro Fertilisation and whether their needs are being addressed within the current maternity care service. DESIGN critical review of the literature using a narrative approach. FINDINGS AND KEY CONCLUSIONS 15 papers were identified. These included both qualitative and q...

INTRODUCTION There is discord between the recall of maternity care providers and patients when it comes to discussion of gestational weight gain (GWG) and obesity management. Few women report being advised on GWG, physical activity (PA), and nutrition, yet the majority of health care providers report discussing these topics with patients. We evaluated whether various Canadian maternal health ca...

OBJECTIVES More disabled women are becoming mothers, and yet, their care is rarely the focus of quantitative research. This study aimed to investigate access and quality of maternity care for women with differing disabilities. DESIGN Secondary analysis was conducted on data from a 2015 national survey of women's experience of maternity care. Descriptive and adjusted analyses were undertaken f...

OBJECTIVE To assess knowledge about the partograph and its utilization among maternity care providers in primary health care in southwestern Nigeria. METHOD Two hundred and seventy-five maternity care providers comprising of 64 CHEWS (23.3%), 74 Auxiliary midwives (26.9%), 123 Nurses/midwives (44.7%) and 14 medical doctors (5.1%) were interviewed in primary health centres and private hospital...

BACKGROUND Canada is among the top immigrant-receiving nations in the world. Immigrant populations may face structural and individual barriers in the access to and navigation of healthcare services in a new country. The aims of the study were to (1) generate new understanding of the processes that perpetuate immigrant disadvantages in maternity healthcare, and (2) devise potential interventions...