conclusions in spite of improvements in the national health indicator, different groups of people use health care services differently, but these inequities in hcu are related to social and individual factors. also, it is clear that health sector facilities and the accessibility to health services are not the only predictors. results 66.4% of those in need sought outpatient health care from whi...

CONTEXT Given the health risks of HIV/AIDS and the risks of teenage pregnancy in general, pregnant HIV-positive adolescents in Kenya need maternal health care services that account for their HIV status. However, research on their access to and use of these services is scant. METHODS To examine maternal health care utilization, pregnancy history data collected in 2009 on 506 pregnancies among ...

OBJECTIVES To understand hospital- and county-level factors for rural obstetric unit closures, using mixed methods. DATA SOURCES Hospital discharge data from Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project's Statewide Inpatient Databases, American Hospital Association Annual Survey, and Area Resource File for 2010, as well as 2013-2014 telephone interviews of all 306 rural hospitals in nine states wi...

BACKGROUND Utilization indices exist to measure quantity of prenatal care, but currently there is no published instrument to assess quality of prenatal care. The purpose of this study was to develop and test a new instrument, the Quality of Prenatal Care Questionnaire (QPCQ). METHODS Data for this instrument development study were collected in five Canadian cities. Items for the QPCQ were gen...

Background: Understanding the physiological and psycho-social effects of pregnancy through Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs) will enable health care providers to identify and treat any adverse outcomes, and provide support to women seeking fertility treatments. The aim of this paper was to review studies describing prenatal care in pregnancy through ARTs. Methods: A systematic search o...

background: preterm birth is one of the most remarkable reasons for neonatal and infant mortality and morbidity across the world. this study aimed to determine risk factors of premature infants in the rural area of azadshahr city, iran. materials and methods: acase-control study was conducted on all premature and low birth neonates (less than 37 weeks and weight less than 2500 grams). data were...

background: low birth weight considered as an important indicator of health of each country and identifying of its causative factors is necessary. the aim of present study was to determine the relationship between the biological, psychological-cognitive and social - cultural characteristics of parents and infant’s birth weight in isfahan province. methods: in this study 910 recently delivered m...

Background: Prenatal care service is an important public health intervention in Ghana but its contribution to the adoption of healthy infant feeding behaviours remains unclear. This study was designed toassess the relationship between adequate prenatal care utilization and postpartum infant feeding behaviours. Methods: We used a cross-sectional design on a sample of 384 postpartum mothers who h...