Perinatal audit using the 3-delays model in western Tanzania

"It is because the treatment of this lady is a cascade": Accumulation of delays and the occurrence of obstetric emergencies in an urban maternity unit in Tanzania

OBJECTIVE

To explore healthcare workers' and women's experiences of providing and seeking childbirth care in a busy urban maternity facility in Tanzania.

DESIGN

A qualitative study with observations, in-depth interviews, and informal conversations, using thematic network analysis.

SETTING

This study was conducted in a busy urban maternity unit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania which is a low-resource setting with a need to improve childbirth care.

PARTICIPANTS

Six frontline healthcare providers and four hospital managers from the facility, along with six postpartum women who gave birth at the facility.

FINDINGS

Delays were observed throughout the childbirth care cascade, encompassing various stages. During antenatal care, timely provision of care was hindered by a high patientto-provider ratio, resulting in inadequate monitoring of risk factors. At the onset of labor, women delayed seeking care, sometimes, attempting a trial of labor after a previous Caesarean section. Within the facility, delays in care decision-making and patient management were evident due to insufficient resources. The accumulation of these delays over time influenced the quality of care provided and challenged the management of obstetric emergencies at the study facility.

KEY CONCLUSIONS

The study findings show that delays are prevalent throughout the entire childbirth care cascade. The accumulation of these delays over time has influenced the quality of care provided at the facility and increased the vulnerability of women experiencing obstetric emergencies. To effectively address the imperative of reducing maternal mortality in low-resource settings, it is essential to develop appropriate interventions that span the entire spectrum of childbirth care. Additionally, further research is needed to delve into the complexities of care decision-making and the quality of care delivered within urban maternal facilities.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

Our findings stress the need for comprehensive childbirth interventions and contextspecific guidelines to address challenges across the care cascade, particularly in lowresource settings. Urgent attention is required to prioritize care during patient triage and address systemic challenges within the healthcare system to improve birth outcomes and ensure effective facility-based care provision.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

NCT04685668 Date of initial trial registration: December 28th, 2020.

Qualitative evaluation of missed nursing care in neonatal intensive care units in a teaching hospital in Jordan

PURPOSE

Missed nursing care (MNC) is a worldwide patient safety issue. However, little is known about MNC in neonatal intensive care units (NICU). The aim of this paper is to explore the elements and factors influencing the occurrence of MNC in the NICU in a teaching hospital in Amman, Jordan.

DESIGN AND METHODS

The study used a qualitative descriptive design. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with NICU nurses. Purposeful sampling was used to select the participants and data collection was performed in the period August 2022 to September 2022. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis.

RESULTS

The participants included 15 female nurses. The majority of the participants held a bachelor's degree in nursing. Five themes emerged from the analysis of data namely: (1) Conceptualizations of MNC (2) Missed care elements in the NICU (3) Reasons behind MNC in the NICU (4) Consequences of MNC and (5) Strategies to reduce the occurrence of MNC. Feeding,changing diapers, monitoring vital signs, and medication administrationwere identified as missed care elements in the NICU.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings of this research may inform the development of interventions that may reduce missed care incidents in the NICU.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Addressing staff shortages and the provision of necessary materials and equipment appear to be the key factors that may reduce the frequency of MNC. Thus, enhancing patient safety and quality healthcare in this challenging healthcare environment.

Improving the quality of maternal and newborn healthcare at the district level: Addressing newborn deaths in Nepal

Maternal and newborn care quality can be measured in three dimensions (Dimensions 1: care provision, 2: care experience, and 3: human and physical resources); however, little is known about which dimensions are associated with newborn and perinatal deaths. We examined the association between care quality and newborn and perinatal deaths in Nepal. This study incorporated secondary data from Nepal Service Provision Assessments (NSPA) 2015 (623 delivery facilities, facility inventory survey; 1,509 women, ANC clients interviews; 1,544 women, ANC observation) and Nepal Demographic and Health Surveys (NDHS) 2016 (5,038 women who reported having given birth in the five years preceding data collection). The outcome variables were newborn and perinatal deaths derived from the NDHS. The exposure variables were district-level maternal and newborn care quality scores calculated from the NSPA data. Covariates were women's sociodemographic, health, and obstetric characteristics. We applied the administrative boundary method to link these two surveys. We conducted binary logistic regression analyses to examine the association between care quality and newborn/perinatal deaths. In Dimension 1, higher mean and maximum quality scores at the district level were associated with a lower number of newborn deaths (mean: odds ratio [OR] = 0.04, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.00-0.76; max: OR = 0.09, 95% CI: 0.01-0.58), but not with perinatal deaths. In Dimensions 2 and 3, the quality score was not significantly associated with newborn deaths and perinatal. Enhancing the quality of care provision at its average and highest levels in each district may contribute to the reduction of newborn deaths, but not perinatal death. Health administrators should assess the quality of care at the administrative division level and focus on enhancing both average and maximum care quality of health facilities in each region in the care provision dimension.

Facility-based stillbirth review processes used in different countries across the world: a systematic review

Background

Facility-based stillbirth review provides opportunities to estimate incidence, evaluate causes and risk factors for stillbirths, and identify any issues related to the quality of pregnancy and childbirth care which require improvement. Our aim was to systematically review all types and methods of facility-based stillbirth review processes used in different countries across the world, to examine how stillbirth reviews in facility settings are being conducted worldwide and to identify the outcomes of implementing the reviews. Moreover, to identify facilitators and barriers influencing the implementation of the identified facility-based stillbirth reviews processes by conducting subgroup analyses.

Methods

A systematic review of published literature was conducted by searching MEDLINE (OvidSP) [1946-present], EMBASE (OvidSP) [1974-present], WHO Global Index Medicus (globalindexmedicus.net), Global Health (OvidSP) [1973-2022 Week 8] and CINAHL (EBSCOHost) [1982-present] from their inception until 11 January, 2023. For unpublished or grey literature, the WHO databases, Google Scholar and ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global were searched, as well as hand searching the reference lists of included studies. MESH terms encompassing "∗Clinical Audit", "∗Perinatal Mortality", "Pregnancy Complications", and "Stillbirth" were used with Boolean operators. Studies that used a facility-based review process or any approach to evaluate care prior to stillbirth, and explained the methods used were included. Reviews and editorials were excluded. Three authors (YYB, UGA, and DBT) independently screened and extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias using an adapted JBI's Checklist for Case Series. A logic model was used to inform the narrative synthesis. The review protocol was registered with PROSPERO, CRD42022304239.

Findings

A total of 68 studies from 17 high-income (HICs) and 22 low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) met the inclusion criteria from a total of 7258 identified records. These were stillbirth reviews conducted at different levels: district, state, national, and international. Three types were identified: audit, review, and confidential enquiry, but not all desired components were included in most processes, which led to a mismatch between the description of the type and the actual method used. Routine data from hospital records was the most common data source for identifying stillbirths, and case assessment was based on stillbirth definition in 48 out of 68 studies. Hospital notes were the most common source of information about care received and causes/risk factors for stillbirth. Short-term and medium-term outcomes were reported in 14 studies, but impact of the review process on reducing stillbirth, which is more difficult to establish, was not reported in any study. Facilitators and barriers in implementing a successful stillbirth review process identified from 14 studies focused on three main themes: resources, expertise, and commitment.

Interpretation

This systematic review's findings identified that there is a need for clear guidelines on how to measure the impact of implementation of changes based on outputs of stillbirth reviews and methods to enable effective dissemination of learning points in the future and promoting them through training platforms. In addition, there is a need to develop and adopt a universal definition of stillbirth to facilitate meaningful comparison of stillbirth rates between regions. The key limitation of this review is that while using a logic model for narrative synthesis was deemed most appropriate for this study, sequence of implementing a stillbirth review in the real world is not linear, and assumptions are often not met. Therefore, the logic model proposed in this study should be interpreted with flexibility when designing a stillbirth review process. The generated learnings from the stillbirth review processes inform the action plans and allow facilities to consider where the changes should happen to improve the quality of care in the facilities, enabling positive short-term and medium-term outcomes.

Funding

Kellogg College, University of Oxford, Clarendon Fund, University of Oxford, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford and Medical Research Council (MRC).

Changing the outcomes of newborns with surgical conditions at a tertiary-level hospital in Kenya: a cluster randomized trial

Background

Globally, 10% of neonatal mortality in low-/middle-income countries (L/MIC) is directly attributed to surgical conditions, and appropriate referral and transport of newborns to tertiary-level hospitals for surgical care often underlie their survival. This study aimed at evaluating the outcomes of newborns with surgical conditions in a low-resource setting, in the context of a structured standard operating procedure (SOP) for newborn transport. 

Methods

A cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted. Ten county hospitals that refer newborns with surgical conditions to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) were selected and randomized into intervention group (A) and control group (B). A structured standard operating procedure (SOP) for transport of newborns was introduced in the hospitals in group A via an education module. Thereafter, 126 newborns (63 in group A and 63 in group B) were enrolled, upon their admission to the MTRH. All the newborns from both groups of referring hospitals were given standard surgical care upon admission. Data on study variables was collected and analyzed, and the outcomes of the newborns in the two groups were compared to assess the effect of the structured SOP.

Results

The median age at admission was 4.1 days in group A and 4.6 days in group B. The top 4 surgical conditions were gastroschisis, hydrocephalus, Hirschsprung’s disease, and anorectal malformations. There was a statistically significant difference (p < .05) in all parameters that measured the clinical status of the newborns at admission, in the two groups. Mortality rate was 3.2% in group A and 28.6% in group B (p < .001), and hospital stay was 11 days in group A and 18 days in group B.

Conclusion

Appropriate transport of newborns with surgical conditions significantly improved their outcomes at the MTRH.

Level of evidence

II

Audit identified modifiable factors in Hospital Care of Newborns in low-middle income countries: a scoping review

BACKGROUND

Audit of facility-based care provided to small and sick newborns is a quality improvement initiative that helps to identify the modifiable gaps in newborn care (BMC Pregnancy Childbirth 14: 280, 2014). The aim of this work was to identify literature on modifiable factors in the care of newborns in the newborn units in health facilities in low-middle-income countries (LMICs). We also set out to design a measure of the quality of the perinatal and newborn audit process.

METHODS

The scoping review was conducted using the methodology outlined by Arksey and O'Malley and refined by Levac et al, (Implement Sci 5:1-9, 2010). We reported our results using the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. We identified seven factors to ensure a successful audit process based on World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations which we subsequently used to develop a quality of audit process score.

DATA SOURCES

We conducted a structured search using PubMed, CINAHL, EMBASE, LILACS, POPLINE and African Index Medicus.

STUDY SELECTION

Studies published in English between 1965 and December 2019 focusing on the identification of modifiable factors through clinical or mortality audits in newborn care in health facilities from LMICs.

DATA EXTRACTION

We extracted data on the study characteristics, modifiable factors and quality of audit process indicators.

RESULTS

A total of six articles met the inclusion criteria. Of these, four were mortality audit studies and two were clinical audit studies that we used to assess the quality of the audit process. None of the studies were well conducted, two were moderately well conducted, and four were poorly conducted. The modifiable factors were divided into three time periods along the continuum of newborn care. The period of newborn unit care had the highest number of modifiable factors, and in each period, the health worker related modifiable factors were the most dominant.

CONCLUSION

Based on the significant number of modifiable factors in the newborn unit, a neonatal audit tool is essential to act as a structured guide for auditing newborn unit care in LMICs. The quality of audit process guide is a useful method of ensuring high quality audits in health facilities.

Health-seeking behaviour among pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study

Background

The novel coronavirus pandemic has killed millions of people globally while significantly destroying the social, economic, and political wellbeing of people. The global pandemic has negatively impacted pregnant women's access to prenatal care. The current study sought to understand the health-seeking behaviour of women who were pregnant during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya.

Methods

The “Three Delay” model theoretical framework was applied to piece together the pregnant women's health-seeking behaviour during the early stages of the pandemic through focus group discussions. The collected qualitative data was analysed using thematic analysis.

Results

The delays in deciding to seek care, delays in reaching healthcare facilities and delays in receiving quality healthcare services at the healthcare facility were a result of the fear of contracting the virus. These delays were occasioned by participants’ personal experiences and uncertainties about COVID-19 pandemic, compulsory quarantines, national cessation of movements, compulsory lockdowns, loss of income to many households and the influence of traditional birth attendants (TBAs).

Conclusion

The current study found that fear of COVID-19 was a major factor that hindered access to maternal healthcare services. In this regard, there is a need to upscale awareness creation on the significance of seeking maternal health services during the pandemic to reduce the possibility of obliterating the gains made in reducing poor health-seeking behaviours among pregnant women.

Modifiable Factors and Delays Associated with Neonatal Deaths and Stillbirths in Jordan: Findings from Facility-Based Neonatal Death and Stillbirth Audits

OBJECTIVE

 This study employed the "three-delay" model to investigate the types of critical delays and modifiable factors that contribute to the neonatal deaths and stillbirths in Jordan.

STUDY DESIGN

 A triangulation research method was followed in this study to present the findings of death review committees (DRCs), which were formally established in five major hospitals across Jordan. The DRCs used a specific death summary form to facilitate identifying the type of delay, if any, and to plan specific actions to prevent future similar deaths. A death case review form with key details was also filled immediately after each death. Moreover, data were collected from patient notes and medical records, and further information about a specific cause of death or the contributing factors, if needed, were collected.

RESULTS

 During the study period (August 1, 2019-February 1, 2020), 10,726 births, 156 neonatal deaths, and 108 stillbirths were registered. A delay in recognizing the need for care and in the decision to seek care (delay 1) was believed to be responsible for 118 (44.6%) deaths. Most common factors included were poor awareness of when to seek care, not recognizing the problem or the danger signs, no or late antenatal care, and financial constraints and concern about the cost of care. Delay 2 (delay in seeking care or reaching care) was responsible for nine (3.4%) cases. Delay 3 (delay in receiving care) was responsible for 81 (30.7%) deaths. The most common modifiable factors were the poor or lack of training that followed by heavy workload, insufficient staff members, and no antenatal documentation. Effective actions were initiated across all the five hospitals in response to the delays to reduce preventable deaths.

CONCLUSION

 The formation of the facility-based DRCs was vital in identifying critical delays and modifiable factors, as well as developing initiatives and actions to address modifiable factors.

KEY POINTS

· Death review committees play key roles in identifying critical delays and modifiable factors.. · The "three-delay" model was successful in identifying preventable neonatal deaths and stillbirths.. · Death review committees are central in developing actions to reduce preventable deaths..

Verbal Autopsies for Out-of-Hospital Infant Deaths in Zambia

OBJECTIVES

In Zambia, a significant number of infants die in the community. It is hypothesized that delays in care contribute to many of these so-called "brought in dead" infants.

METHODS

We analyzed free-text narratives from verbal autopsies, in which families narrate the final series of events leading to each infant's death. Using the 3-delays model framework and working iteratively to achieve consensus, we coded each narrative using NVivo software to identify, characterize, and quantify the contribution of delays and other factors to the fatal outcome.

RESULTS

Verbal autopsies were collected from 230 families of brought in dead infants younger than 6 months of age. As many as 82.8% of infants had 1 or more delays in care. The most-common delay was in the family's decision to seek care (54.8%), even as severe symptoms were frequently described. Similarly, 27.8% of infants died en route to a health care facility. Delays in receiving adequate care, including infants dying while waiting in line at a clinic or during referral from a clinic to a hospital, occurred in 24.7% of infants. A third of infants had been previously evaluated by a clinician in the days before their death.

CONCLUSIONS

Delays in care were the rule rather than the exception in this population of Zambian infants. Accessing care requires families to navigate significant logistic barriers, and balance complex forces in deciding to seek care. Strategies to avoid such delays could save many infants lives.

Development and utility of tools to identify preventable perinatal deaths: results from a community-based interventional study in two districts of Karnataka State, India

Background:

Objective:

Materials and Methods:

Results:

Conclusions:

Emergency Transportation Interventions for Reducing Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review

Objective:

To assess the effect of emergency transportation interventions on the outcome of labor and delivery in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Methods:

Eleven databases were searched through December 2019: Medline/PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, EBSCO (PsycINFO and CINAHL), SCIELO, LILACS, JSTOR, POPLINE, Google Scholar, the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group’s Specialized Register, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. Methodological quality of included studies was assessed using the ROBINS-I tool.

Results:

Nine studies (three in Asia and six in Africa) were included: one cluster randomized controlled trial, three controlled before-and-after (CBA) studies, four uncontrolled before and after studies, and one case-control study. The means of emergency obstetric transportation evaluated by the studies included bicycle (n = 1) or motorcycle ambulances (n = 3), 4-wheel drive vehicles (n = 3), and formal motor-vehicle ambulances (n = 2). Transportation support was offered within multi-component interventions including financial incentives (n = 1), improved communication (n = 7), and community mobilization (n = 2). Two controlled before-and-after studies that implemented interventions including financial support, three-wheeled motorcycles, and use of mobile phones reported reduction of maternal mortality. One cluster-randomized study which involved community mobilization and strengthening of referral, and transportation, and one controlled before-and-after that implemented free-of-charge, 24-hour, 4 × 4 wheel ambulance and a mobile phone showed reductions in stillbirth, perinatal, and neonatal mortality. Six studies reported increases in facility delivery ranging from 12–50%, and one study showed a 19% reduction in home delivery. There was a significant increase of caesarian sections in two studies; use of motorcycle ambulances compared to car ambulance resulted in reduction in referral delay by 2 to 4.5 hours. Only three included studies had low risk of bias on all domains.

Conclusion:

Integrating emergency obstetric transportation with complimentary maternal health interventions may reduce adverse pregnancy outcomes and increase access to skilled obstetric services for women in LMICs. The strength of evidence is limited by the paucity of high-quality studies.

Delays in obstetric care increase the risk of neonatal near-miss morbidity events and death: a case-control study

Background

To evaluate the association between delays in obstetric care and neonatal near-miss mortality events and death in a public maternity referral center.

Methods

This case-control study enrolled 142 neonates, meeting the near-miss criteria of 5-min Apgar < 7, weight < 1500 g, gestational age < 32 weeks, and use of mechanical ventilation or congenital malformation, as well as 284 controls (without the near-miss criteria), at a ratio of 1:2. After follow-up, the following outcomes were reclassified: survival of the neonatal period without the near-miss criteria (true “controls”), “near-miss,” and “neonatal death.” Maternal sociodemographic characteristics, prenatal care, and pregnancy resolution were evaluated. Pearson’s chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests were used. Simple logistic regression was performed to determine the association between the three delay factors with near-miss outcomes and/or neonatal death. The variables that had maintained values of p < 0.05 were subjected to multinomial logistic regression.

Results

Comparisons revealed the following associations: for controls and near-miss events, delayed access to health services due to a lack of specialized services (odds ratio [OR], 3.0; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.8–5.1) and inappropriate conduct with the patient (OR, 12.1; 95% CI, 1.3–108.7); for controls and death, absent or inadequate prenatal care (OR, 3.3; 95% CI, 1.6–7.1) and delayed access to health services due to a lack of specialized services (OR, 2.5; 95% CI, 1.1–5.6); and for near-miss events and death, absent or inadequate prenatal care (OR, 2.2; 95% CI, 1.0–5.0). Logistic regression for the combined outcome (near-miss plus neonatal deaths) revealed absent or inadequate prenatal care (OR, 1.9; 95% CI, 1.2–2.8), lack of specialized services (OR, 2.8; 95% CI, 1.7–4.5), and improper conduct with the patient (OR, 10.6; 95% CI, 1.2–91.8).

Conclusions

The delays in obstetric care associated with the presence of near-miss and/or neonatal death included absent or inadequate prenatal care, delayed access to health services due to a lack of specialized services, and inappropriate conduct with the patient.

Barriers and facilitators to neonatal health and care-seeking behaviours in rural Cambodia: a qualitative study

OBJECTIVES

Neonatal mortality remains persistently high in low-income and middle-income countries. In Cambodia, there is a paucity of data on the perception of neonatal health and care-seeking behaviours at the community level. This study aimed to identify influencers of neonatal health and healthcare-seeking behaviour in a rural Cambodian province.

DESIGN

A qualitative study using focus group discussions and thematic content analysis.

SETTING

Four health centres in a rural province of Northern Cambodia.

PARTICIPANTS

Twenty-four focus group discussions were conducted with 85 community health workers in 2019.

RESULTS

Community health workers recognised an improvement in neonatal health over time. Key influencers to neonatal health were identified as knowledge, sociocultural behaviours, finances and transport, provision of care and healthcare engagement. Most influencers acted as both barriers and facilitators, with the exception of finances and transport that only acted as a barrier, and healthcare engagement that acted as a facilitator.

CONCLUSION

Understanding health influencers and care-seeking behaviours is recognised to facilitate appropriate community health programmes. Key influencers and care-seeking behaviours have been identified from rural Cambodia adding to the current literature. Where facilitators have already been established, they should be used as building blocks for continued change.

Barriers & facilitators to healthcare and social services among undocumented Latino(a)/Latinx immigrant clients: Perspectives from frontline service providers in Southeast Michigan

Immigration- and enforcement-related policies and laws have significantly and negatively impacted the health and well-being of undocumented immigrants. We examine barriers and facilitators to healthcare and social services among undocumented Latino(a)/Latinx immigrants specifically in the post 2016 US presidential election socio-political climate. By grounding our study on the perspectives of frontline providers, we explore their challenges in meeting the needs of their undocumented clients. These include client access to healthcare and social services, the barriers providers face in providing timely and effective services, and avenues to reduce or overcome factors that impede service provision to improve quality of care for this population. Data are from 28 in-depth interviews with frontline healthcare and social service providers. Based on data analysis, we found that the domains of the Three Delays Model used in obstetric care provided a good framework for organizing and framing the responses. Our findings suggest that these undocumented clients encounter three phases of delay: delay in the decision to seek care, delay in identifying and traveling to healthcare facilities, and delay in receiving adequate and appropriate care at healthcare facilities. Given the current socio-political climate for immigrants, healthcare and social services organizations that serve undocumented clients should adapt existing services or introduce new services, including those that are not site-based.

Low use of vacuum extraction: Health care Professionals' Perspective in a University Hospital, Dar es Salaam

BACKGROUND

Use of vacuum extraction (VE) has been declining in low and middle income countries. At the highest referral hospital Tanzania, 54% of deliveries are performed by caesarean section (CS) and only 0.8% by VE. Use of VE has the potential to reduce CS rates and improve maternal and neonatal outcomes but causes for its low use is not fully explored.

METHOD

During November and December of 2017 participatory observations, semi-structured in-depth interviews (n = 29) and focus group discussions (n = 2) were held with midwives, residents and specialists working at the highest referral hospital in Tanzania. Thematic analysis was used to identify rationales for low VE use.

FINDINGS

Unstructured and inconsistent clinical teaching structure, interdependent on a fear and blame culture, as well as financial incentives and a lack of structured, adhered to and updated guidelines were identified as rationales for CS instead of VE use. Although all informants showed positivity towards clinical teaching of VE, a subpar communication between clinics and academia was stated as resulting in absent clinical teachers and unaccountable students.

CONCLUSION

This study draws connections between the low use of VE and the inconsistent and unstructured clinical training of VE expressed through the health care providers' points of view. However, clinical teaching in VE was highly welcomed by the informers which may serve as a good starting point for future interventions.

Using Three Delay Model to Understand the Social Factors Responsible for Neonatal Deaths Among Displaced Tribal Communities in India

In the tribal region, risk of death among neonates is influenced to a great extent by factors related to the mother such as situation of the mother prior to and post pregnancy, care received before, during and after pregnancy, birth order, and care received by the child during the first few years of his/her life. There is paucity of basic epidemiological data on reproductive health outcomes of displaced people (Hynes et al. in JAMA 288(5):595-603, 2002). Therefore, this study aims to examine the social factors responsible for neonatal deaths among displaced tribal communities in India. Sequential exploratory study design was used to collect data from displaced tribal communities in the state of Odisha and Chhattisgarh during 2016-2017. A purposive sampling method was used to select the sample from the definite population. Results indicate that in total 115 (59.3%) women had experienced at least one child deaths. Analysis of neonatal deaths suggests that about 39.2% women experienced at least one or more neonatal death during the last 5 years. Women who chose to deliver at home experience higher neonatal deaths (47.1%) in comparison to the women who delivered at the health facility (26.0%). The logistic regression analysis indicate that mothers education, place of delivery, utilization of the services, possession of Below Poverty Line (BPL) card and Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) status are significant predictors of neonatal mortality. The probability of occurrence of neonatal mortality is 60% lower for literate women as compared to the illiterate women. Findings of the study identified three phases of delay that affect displaced tribal women in accessing and receiving health care services. Displaced tribal women are late in recognizing health problems of neonates and delay in seeking medical care due to rooted cultural barriers. Women who participated in this study had low levels of risk perception about delivering children at home and visiting traditional healer for the treatment. This is mainly due to their personal experiences of uneventful deliveries conducted by mothers-in-law or Traditional Birth Attendants (TBA) and sociocultural beliefs. There is need for provision of culturally sensitive instruction to service providers. This would further motivate service providers to sensitize the displaced tribal communities on various free healthcare services available to them.

Determinants of Home Delivery among Women Aged 15-24 Years in Tanzania

BACKGROUND

The United Nation's Sustainable Development Goal number 3 aims at reducing the maternal mortality rate by less than 70/100,000 live births globally and 216/100,000 live births in developing regions by 2030. Despite several interventions in Tanzania, maternal mortality has increased from 454/100,000 live births in 2010 to 556/100,000 live births in 2015. Home delivery and maternal young age contribute to maternal deaths. Reducing home deliveries among women aged 15-24 years may likely decrease the prevalence of maternal deaths in Tanzania. This study investigated the determinants of home delivery among women aged 15- 24 years in rural and mainland districts of Tanzania.

METHODS

This study uses a mixed-methods approach using data collected as part of the evaluation of government and UNICEF interventions in 13 districts of Tanzania mainland from October and November 2011. Results from the secondary analysis were supplemented by qualitative data collected between February and April 2019 from four rural districts: Bagamoyo, Tandahimba, Magu, and Moshi.

RESULTS

A total of 409 adolescents and young women who delivered one year before the quantitative data collection were included in the final analysis. A quarter of them gave birth at home. Having at least four antenatal care (ANC) visits (OR=0.23, 95% CI: 0.12-0.41, p<0.01), planning place of delivery (OR=0.22, 95% CI: 0.14-0.36 p<0.01), and knowledge of the danger signs during pregnancy (OR=0.36, 95% CI: 0.22-0.57, p<0.01) were significantly associated with the place of delivery.

CONCLUSION AND GLOBAL HEALTH IMPLICATIONS

Maternal level of education, number of ANC visits attended, planned place of delivery, and knowledge of danger signs during pregnancy were the determinants of the choice of place of delivery among women aged 15-24 years in Tanzania. Understanding these risk factors is important in designing programs and interventions to reduce maternal deaths from women of this age group which contributes about 18% of all maternal deaths in Tanzania.

The changing temporal association between caesarean birth and neonatal death in Ethiopia: secondary analysis of nationally representative surveys

OBJECTIVE

To examine the changing temporal association between caesarean birth and neonatal death within the context of Ethiopia from 2000 to 2016.

DESIGN

Secondary analysis of Ethiopian Demographic and Health Surveys.

SETTING

All administrative regions of Ethiopia with surveys conducted in 2000, 2005, 2011 and 2016.

PARTICIPANTS

Women aged 15-49 years with a live birth during the 5 years preceding the survey.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

We analysed the association between caesarean birth and neonatal death using log-Poisson regression models for each survey adjusted for potential confounders. We then applied the 'Three Delays Model' to 2016 survey to provide an interpretation of the association between caesarean birth and neonatal death in Ethiopia.

RESULTS

The adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) for neonatal death among neonates born via caesarean section versus vaginal birth increased over time, from 0.95 (95% CI: 0.29 to 3.19) in 2000 to 2.81 (95% CI: 1.11 to 7.13) in 2016. The association between caesarean birth and neonatal death was stronger among rural women (aPR (95% CI) 3.43 (1.22 to 9.67)) and among women from the lowest quintile of household wealth (aPR (95% CI) 7.01 (0.92 to 53.36)) in 2016. Aggregate-level analysis revealed that an increased caesarean section rates were correlated with a decreased proportion of neonatal deaths.

CONCLUSIONS

A naïve interpretation of the changing temporal association between caesarean birth and neonatal death from 2000 to 2016 is that caesarean section is increasingly associated with neonatal death. However, the changing temporal association reflects improvements in health service coverage and secular shifts in the characteristics of Ethiopian women undergoing caesarean section after complicated labour or severe foetal compromise.

Strengthening the "P" in Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response in Bungoma county, Kenya: implications for scale-up

BACKGROUND

This paper examines perinatal death reporting and reviews in Bungoma county, Kenya, where substantial progress has been made, providing important insights for wider scale up to other contexts.

METHODS

Quantitative methods were used to analyse trends in perinatal death reporting and reviews between 2014 and 2017 throughout Kenya based on data from the District Health Information System. Qualitative methods helped further understand the success of perinatal death reporting and review in Bungoma county through focus group discussions and individual interviews at 5 hospitals and 1 health centre. Thematic analysis was used to draw out codes for the analysis.

RESULTS

Only 13 of the 47 counties in Kenya conduct perinatal death reviews. In 2017, the year after the perinatal death review system was introduced, only 3.6% of perinatal deaths were reviewed in Kenya. Bungoma county has made the greatest strides in Kenya, reviewing 59% of the perinatal deaths that occurred within the county in 2017. Bungoma accounted for 51% of all the perinatal deaths reviewed in Kenya. Factors contributing to the success in Bungoma include harmonisation of facility based perinatal reporting tools with the national level; prioritising the need to document and report mortalities; tailoring continual medical education and supportive supervision visits to needs identified from the review; and better documentation and referral processes. Supportive management and administrative staff have also helped drive forward implementation of actions and increased health staff motivation to reduce perinatal deaths and improve quality of care.

CONCLUSIONS

Successful implementation of perinatal death reviews requires clear delineation of roles and responsibilities for action, which are routinely monitored to track implementation progress. As in other low-income settings, Bungoma county has demonstrated that in Kenya, perinatal death reviews can be effectively implemented and sustained, through a focus on learning, solution-oriented responses, influencing those in a power to act, accountability for results, and observable quality of care improvements.

Effects of an expanded Uber-like transport system on access to and use of maternal and newborn health services: findings of a prospective cohort study in Homa Bay, Kenya

INTRODUCTION

Kenya's progress towards reducing maternal and neonatal deaths is at present 'insufficient'. These deaths could be prevented if the three delays, that is, in deciding to seek healthcare (delay 1), in accessing formal healthcare (delay 2) and in receiving quality healthcare (delay 3), are comprehensively addressed. We designed a mobile phone enhanced 24 hours Uber-like transport navigation system coupled with personalised and interactive gestation-based text messages to address these delays. Our main objective was to evaluate the impact of this intervention on women's adherence to recommended antenatal (ANC) and postnatal care (PNC) regimes and facility birth.

METHODS

We conducted a prospective cohort study. Women were eligible to participate in the study if they were 15 years or older and less than 28 weeks gestation. We defined cases as those who received the standard of care plus the intervention and the control group as those who received the standard of care only. For analysis, we used logistic regression analysis and report crude and adjusted OR (aOR) and 95 % CI.

RESULTS

Cases (women who received the intervention) had five times higher odds of having four or more ANC visits (aOR=4.7, 95% CI 3.20 to 7.09), three times higher odds of taking between 30 and 60 min to reach a health facility for delivery (aOR=3.14, 95% CI 2.37 to 4.15) and four times higher odds of undergoing at least four PNC visits (aOR=4.10, 95% CI 3.11 to 5.36).

CONCLUSION

An enhanced community-based Uber-like transport navigation system coupled with personalised and interactive gestation-based text messages significantly increased the utilisation of ANC and PNC services as well as shortened the time taken to reach an appropriate facility for delivery compared with standard care.

Experiences of Fetal or Infant Loss among Tanzanian Women in HIV Care

This study examined the impact of fetal or infant loss on HIV care engagement. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 15 HIV-infected women who experienced fetal or infant loss while enrolled in prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) services in Tanzania. Women attributed the loss to delays in receiving healthcare. Provider communication about the cause of the loss was poor, and women reported substantial distress related to the loss. One-fifth reported gaps in HIV care or disengagement from care following their loss. Loss of a fetus or infant is not uncommon in HIV endemic settings, and should be integrated into PMTCT guidelines.

Pregnancies with an outcome of fetal death present higher risk of delays in obstetric care: A case-control study

The objective of this study was identify the association between delays in the care provided to pregnant women and the fetal death outcome, in a tertiary reference maternity hospital in the Northeastern Brazil. A case-control study, with 72 cases of fetal death and 144 controls (live births) in women admitted to the Obstetrics Service of the Assis Chateaubriand Teaching Maternity Hospital, in Fortaleza, Ceará. Controls were matched (2:1) by the approximate gestational age of the case. The groups were compared using the three delays model of obstetric care. The Pearson's Chi-square test and the Fisher's exact test were used to compare the groups. P <0.05 was considered statistically significant. The Group with fetal death had a smaller number of prenatal consultations (> 6 consultations: 27.8% in cases, 40.3% in controls, p = 0.003), less risk classification of pregnancy (41.7% vs 55.9%, p = 0.048), less guidance about the health facility for delivery (44.5% vs 64%, p = 0.009), lower frequency of cesarean sections (25.4% vs 65.7%) and higher frequency of hemorrhagic syndromes (33.3% vs 19.4%, p = 0.024) and syphilis (15.3% vs 4.2%, p = 0·004). Variables that persisted significantly associated with fetal death in the logistic regression were: Refusal of assistance (OR = 4.07, IC 95%: 1.08-15.3), Absence or inadequacy of prenatal care (OR = 2.69, IC 95%: 1.07-6.75), Delay in diagnosis (OR = 10.3, IC 95%: 2.58-41.4) and Inadequate patient conduct (OR = 4.88; IC 95%: 1.43-16.6). Despite of having a higher frequency of obstetric complications, gestations with fetal death are more prone to delays in obstetric care.

Patterns and causes of hospital maternal mortality in Tanzania: A 10-year retrospective analysis

BACKGROUND

Maternal mortality is among the most important public health concerns in Sub-Saharan Africa. There is limited data on hospital-based maternal mortality in Tanzania. The objective of this study was to determine the causes and maternal mortality trends in public hospitals of Tanzania from 2006-2015.

METHODS AND FINDINGS

This retrospective study was conducted between July and December 2016 and involved 34 public hospitals in Tanzania. Information on causes of deaths due to pregnancy and delivery complications among women of child-bearing age (15-49 years old) recorded for the period of 2006-2015 was extracted. Data sources included inpatient and death registers and International Classification of Disease (ICD)-10 report forms. Maternal deaths were classified based on case definition by ICD 10 and categorized as direct and indirect causes. A total of 40,052 deaths of women of child-bearing age were recorded. There were 1,987 maternal deaths representing 5·0% of deaths of all women aged 15-49 years. The median age-at-death was 27 years (interquartile range: 22, 33). The average age-at-death increased from 25 years in 2006 to 29 years in 2015. Two thirds (67.1%) of the deaths affected women aged 20-34 years old. The number of deaths associated with teenage pregnancy (15-19 years) declined significantly (p-value<0·001) from 17.8% in 2006-2010 to 11.1% in 2011-2015. The proportion of deaths among 30-34 and 35-39 years old (all together) increased from 13% in 2006-2010 to 15·3% in 2011-2015 (p-value = 0.081). Hospital-based maternal mortality ratio increased from 40.24 (2006) to 57.94/100000 births in 2015. Of the 1,987 deaths, 83.8% were due to direct causes and 16.2% were due to indirect causes. Major direct causes were eclampsia (34.0%), obstetric haemorrhage (24.6%) and maternal sepsis (16.7%). Anaemia (14.9%) and cardiovascular disorders (14.0%) were the main indirect causes. Causes of maternal deaths were highly related; being attributed to up to three direct causes (0.12%). Cardiovascular disorders and anaemia had strong linkage with haemorrhage. While there was a decline in the number of deaths due to eclampsia and abortion, those due to haemorrhage and cardiovascular disoders increased during the period.

CONCLUSIONS

During the ten year period (2006-2015) there was an increase in the number of hospital maternal deaths in public hospitals in Tanzania. Maternal deaths accounted for 5% of all women of child-bearing age in-hospital mortalities. Most maternal deaths were due to direct causes including eclampsia, haemorrhage and sepsis. The findings of this study provide evidence for better planning and policy formulation for reproductive health programmes to reduce maternal deaths in Tanzania.

Why do women not adhere to advice on maternal referral in rural Tanzania? Narratives of women and their family members

Background: In most low-income countries, many women with high-risk pregnancies and complications do not reach the referral hospitals despite the provision of referral advice.

Objective: To explore how antenatal maternal referral advice is understood and handled in a rural Tanzanian community.

Methods: Individual in-depth interviews were conducted with six women who did not go to hospital and 13 people who were involved in the referral advice. Narrative analysis was used to describe and create meanings out of the decision-making process.

Results: In all interviews, not following the referral advice was greatly influenced by close family members. Three main traits of how referral advice was understood emerged: convinced referral is not necessary, accepting referral advice but delayed by others, and passive and moving with the wind. The main reasons given for declining the referral advice included discrediting midwives’ advice, citing previous successful deliveries despite referral advice; being afraid of undergoing surgery; lack of support for care of siblings at home; and high costs incurred during referral.

Conclusions: Declining maternal referral advice centred around the pregnant women’s position and their dependence on the family members around them, with a decreased ability to show autonomy. If they were socially and economically empowered, women could positively influence decision making during maternal referrals.

From policy to practice: the challenges facing Uganda in reducing maternal mortality

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe the challenges faced by health professionals in meeting Millennium Goal 5 and reducing maternal mortality in Uganda.

Design/methodology/approach

Uganda is a low income land locked country with some major challenges around maternal health. There are many comprehensive and visionary plans produced by the Ugandan Government, however, there is a disconnect between policy and practice and there are many barriers to be addressed in order to reduce maternal mortality in Uganda.

Findings

Despite making considerable progress in reducing maternal mortality, Millenium Development Goal (MDG) 5 was not achieved and every day 300 children and 20 mothers die in Uganda. Major barriers include lack of resources, both human and equipment, disparities in access to care, lack of clinical skills and knowledge and financial constraints. The Millennium goals are now behind us and focus has shifted to the sustainable development goals (SDGs). The Ugandan Government must focus on using these goals as part of developing the maternal and child health strategy by prioritising the human resource and health financial issues and continuing to work towards reducing maternal and perinatal mortality.

Originality/value

This paper gives a succinct review of the progress of Uganda towards meeting the Millennium Goal 5 and makes key recommendations for addressing SDG 3.

Evaluating the process and outcomes of child death review in the Solomon Islands

While maternal and perinatal mortality auditing has been strongly promoted by the World Health Organization (WHO), there has been very limited promotion or evaluation of child death auditing in low/middle-income settings. In 2017, a standardised child death review process was introduced in the paediatric department of the National Hospital in Honiara, Solomon Islands. We evaluated the process and outcomes of child death reviews. The child death auditing process was assessed through systematic observations made at each of the weekly meetings using the following standards for evaluation: (1) adapted WHO tools for paediatric auditing; (2) the five stages of the audit cycle; (3) published principles of paediatric audit; and (4) WHO and Solomon Islands national clinical standards of Hospital Care for Children. Thirty-three child death review meetings were conducted over 6 months, reviewing 66 neonatal and child deaths. Some areas of the process were satisfactory and other areas were identified for improvement. The latter included use of a more systematic classification of causes of death, inclusion of social risk factors and community problems in the modifiable factors and more follow-up with implementation of action plans. Areas for improvement were in communication, clinical assessment and treatment, availability of laboratory tests, antenatal clinic attendance and equipment for high dependency neonatal and paediatric care. Many of the changes recommended by audit require a quality improvement team to implement. Child death auditing can be done in resource-limited settings and yield useful information of gaps which are linked to preventable deaths; however, using the data to produce meaningful changes in practice is the greatest challenge. Audit is an iterative and evolving process that needs a structure, tools, evaluation, and needs to be embedded in the culture of a hospital as part of overall quality improvement, and requires a quality improvement team to follow-up and implement action plans.

Stillbirths in urban Guinea-Bissau: A hospital- and community-based study

Background

Stillbirth rates remain high in many low-income settings, with fresh (intrapartum) stillbirths accounting for a large part due to limited obstetrical care. We aimed to determine the stillbirth rate and identify potentially modifiable factors associated with stillbirth in urban Guinea-Bissau.

Methods

The study was carried out by the Bandim Health Project (BHP), a Health and Demographic Surveillance System site in the capital Bissau. We assessed stillbirth rates in a hospital cohort consisting of all deliveries at the maternity ward at the National Hospital Simão Mendes (HNSM), and in a community cohort, which only included women from the BHP area. Stillbirth was classified as fresh (FSB) if fetal movements were reported on the day of delivery.

Results

From October 1 2007 to April 15 2013, a total of 38164 deliveries were registered at HNSM, among them 3762 stillbirths (99/1000 births). Excluding deliveries referred to the hospital from outside the capital (9.6%), the HNSM stillbirth rate was 2786/34490 births (81/1000). During the same period, 15462 deliveries were recorded in the community cohort. Of these, 768 were stillbirths (50/1000).

Of 11769 hospital deliveries among women from Bissau with data on fetal movement, 866 (74/1000) were stillbirths, and 609 (70.3%) of these were FSB, i.e. potentially preventable. The hospital FSB rate was highest in the evening from 4 pm to midnight (P = 0.04). In the community cohort, antenatal care (ANC) attendance correlated strongly with stillbirth reduction; the stillbirth rate was 71/1000 if the mother attended no ANC consultations vs. 36/1000 if she attended ≥7 consultations (P<0.001).

Conclusion

In Bissau, the stillbirth rate is alarmingly high. The majority of stillbirths are preventable FSB. Improving obstetrical training, labour management (including sufficient intrapartum monitoring and timely intervention) and hospital infrastructure is urgently required. This should be combined with proper community strategies and additional focus on antenatal care.

Emergency transportation interventions for reducing adverse pregnancy outcomes in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review protocol

BACKGROUND

Transportation interventions seek to decrease delay in reaching a health facility for emergency obstetric care and are, thus, believed to contribute to reductions in such adverse pregnancy and childbirth outcomes as maternal deaths, stillbirths, and neonatal mortality in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, there is limited empirical evidence to support this hypothesis. The objective of the proposed review is to summarize and critically appraise evidence regarding the effect of emergency transportation interventions on outcomes of labor and delivery in LMICs.

METHODS

The following databases will be searched from inception to March 31, 2018: MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, EBSCO (PsycINFO and CINAHL), the Cochrane Pregnancy and Child Birth Group's Specialized Register, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. We will search for studies in the grey literature through Google and Google Scholar. We will solicit unpublished reports from such relevant agencies as United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DfID) among others. Data generated from the search will be managed using Endnote Version 7. We will perform quantitative data synthesis if studies are homogenous in characteristics and provide adequate outcome data for meta-analysis. Otherwise, data will be synthesized, using the narrative synthesis approach.

DISCUSSION

Among the many barriers that women in LMICs face in accessing life-saving interventions during labor and delivery, lack of access to emergency transportation is particularly important. This review will provide a critical summary of evidence regarding the impact of transportation interventions on outcomes of pregnancy and childbirth in LMICs.

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION

PROSPERO CRD42017080092.

Exploring barriers to the use of formal maternal health services and priority areas for action in Sidama zone, southern Ethiopia

BACKGROUND

In 2015 the maternal mortality ratio for Ethiopia was 353 per 100,000 live births. Large numbers of women do not use maternal health services. This study aimed to identify factors influencing the use of maternal health services at the primary health care unit (PHCU) level in rural communities in Sidama zone, south Ethiopia in order to design quality improvement interventions.

METHODS

We conducted a qualitative study in six woredas in 2013: 14 focus group discussions (FGDs) and 44 in-depth interviews with purposefully selected community members (women, male, traditional birth attendants, local kebele administrators), health professionals and health extension workers (HEWs) at PHCUs. We digitally recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed the interviews and FGDs using Nvivo. The 'three delay model' informed the analytical process and discussion of barriers to the use of maternal health services.

RESULTS

Lack of knowledge on danger signs and benefits of maternal health services; cultural and traditional beliefs; trust in TBAs; lack of decision making power of women, previous negative experiences with health facilities; fear of going to an unfamiliar setting; lack of privacy and perceived costs of maternal health services were the main factors causing the first delay in deciding to seek care. Transport problems in inaccessible areas were the main contributing factor for the second delay on reaching care facilities. Lack of logistic supplies and equipment, insufficient knowledge and skills and unprofessional behaviour of health workers were key factors for the third delay in accessing quality care.

CONCLUSIONS

Use of maternal health services at the PHCU level in Sidama zone is influenced by complex factors within the community and health system. PHCUs should continue to implement awareness creation activities to improve knowledge of the community on complications of pregnancy and benefits of maternal health services. The health system has to be responsive to community's cultural norms and practices. The mangers of the woreda health office and health centres should take into account the available budgets; work on ensuring the necessary logistics and supplies to be in place at PHCU.

Perceptions, careseeking, and experiences pertaining to non-cephalic births in rural Sarlahi District, Nepal: a qualitative study

Background

In low-resource settings, a significant proportion of fetal, neonatal, and maternal deaths can be attributed to intrapartum-related complications. Certain risk factors, such as non-cephalic presentation, have a particularly high risk of complications. This qualitative study describes experiences around non-cephalic births and highlights existing perceptions and care-seeking behavior specific to non-cephalic presentation in rural Sarlahi District, Nepal.

Methods

We conducted in-depth interviews with 34 individuals, including women who recently gave birth to a non-cephalic infant and female decision-makers in their households. We also conducted two focus groups with mothers (have two or more children, with at least one child under age five) and two focus groups with grandmothers in the community.

Results

Several women described scenes of obstructed labor and practices like provision of unspecified injections early in labor to assist with the delivery. There were reports of arduous care-seeking processes from primary health centers to tertiary facilities, and mixed quality of care among home birth attendants and facility-based health workers respectively. Very few women were aware of the fetal presentation prior to delivery, and we identified no consistent understanding among participants of the risks of and care strategies for non-cephalic births. Risk perception around non-cephalic presentation varied widely. Some participants were acutely aware of potential dangers, while others had not heard of non-cephalic birth. Many interviewees said that the position in which a pregnant woman sleeps could impact the fetal position. Several participants had either taken or heard of medication intended to rotate the fetus into the correct position.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest the mixed quality of and access to care associated with non-cephalic birth and a lack of consistent understanding of the risk of and care for non-cephalic births in rural Nepal. The high risk of the condition and the recommended tertiary care present a dilemma in low-resource settings; the logistical difficulties and the mixed quality of care make care-seeking and referral decisions complex. While public health stakeholders strive to improve the quality of and access to the formal health system, those players must also be sensitive to the potential negative implications of promoting institutional care-seeking.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12884-018-1724-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Why gone too soon? Examining social determinants of neonatal deaths in northwest Ethiopia using the three delay model approach

BACKGROUND

Without improving the survival of newborns, meaningful reduction in under-five mortality is difficult. Most neonatal deaths are preventable when appropriate and timely care is sought. In Ethiopia, there is lack of evidence on the type and contribution of delays in treatment seeking to neonatal deaths.

METHODS

A community based social autopsy (SA) of 39 neonatal deaths was conducted from March 16 to 24, 2016 in Dabat Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) in northwest Ethiopia. The result was linked with verbal autopsy (VA) information completed for each of the deaths as part of the ongoing HDSS. The SA tool was adapted from INDEPTH Network. Three delay model approach was used to classify the delay types that contributed for the deaths investigated. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data.

RESULTS

SA was completed for 37 (94.9%) of the 39 neonatal deaths. Of all the deaths, 51.3% (19/37) of them occurred within the first 24 h, 75.6% (28/37) within the first 6 days and the remaining in 7-28 days. Birth asphyxia was the leading cause of death (34%) followed by bacterial sepsis (31%) and prematurity (16%). The median time from recognition of illness to initiation of modern treatment was 1 day (IQR 1-2.5 days). Delay in treatment seeking outside home (delay one) was associated with 81% of the deaths. Delay in receiving care at a health facility (delay three) and delay in transport (delay two) were associated with 16 and 3% of the deaths, respectively. The major contributors of death for delay one were bacterial sepsis (33.3%), birth asphyxia (30%), unspecified illness (20%) and acute lower respiratory tract illnesses (6.7%). For delay three, the major causes of death included birth asphyxia (50%), prematurity (33.3%) and bacterial sepsis (16.7%).

CONCLUSIONS

Delays created at home and at health facility were the major delays contributing to the death of newborns. More focus has to be given in improving delays at home and at health facility.

Illness recognition, decision-making, and care-seeking for maternal and newborn complications: a qualitative study in Sarlahi District, Nepal

BACKGROUND

Identification of maternal and newborn illness and the decision-making and subsequent care-seeking patterns are poorly understood in Nepal. We aimed to characterize the process and factors influencing recognition of complications, the decision-making process, and care-seeking behavior among families and communities who experienced a maternal complication, death, neonatal illness, or death in a rural setting of Nepal.

METHODS

Thirty-two event narratives (six maternal/newborn deaths each and 10 maternal/newborn illnesses each) were collected using in-depth interviews and small group interviews. We purposively sampled across specific illness and complication definitions, using data collected prospectively from a cohort of women and newborns followed from pregnancy through the first 28 days postpartum. The event narratives were coded and analyzed for common themes corresponding to three main domains of illness recognition, decision-making, and care-seeking; detailed event timelines were created for each.

RESULTS

While signs were typically recognized early, delays in perceiving the severity of illness compromised prompt care-seeking in both maternal and newborn cases. Further, care was often sought initially from informal health providers such as traditional birth attendants, traditional healers, and village doctors. Key decision-makers were usually female family members; husbands played limited roles in decisions related to care-seeking, with broader family involvement in decision-making for newborns. Barriers to seeking care at any type of health facility included transport problems, lack of money, night-time illness events, low perceived severity, and distance to facility. Facility care was often sought only after referral or following treatment failure from an informal provider and private facilities were sought for newborn care. Respondents characterized government facility-based care as low quality and reported staff rudeness and drug type and/or supply stock shortages.

CONCLUSION

Delaying the decision to seek skilled care was common in both newborn and maternal cases. Among maternal cases, delays in receiving appropriate care when at a facility were also seen. Improved recognition of danger signs and increased demand for skilled care, motivated through community level interventions and health worker mobilization, needs to be encouraged. Engaging informal providers through training in improved danger sign identification and prompt referral, especially for newborn illnesses, is recommended.

Institutional maternal and perinatal deaths: a review of 40 low and middle income countries

BACKGROUND

Understanding the magnitude and clinical causes of maternal and perinatal mortality are basic requirements for positive change. Facility-based information offers a contextualized resource for clinical and organizational quality improvement. We describe the magnitude of institutional maternal mortality, causes of death and cause-specific case fatality rates, as well as stillbirth and pre-discharge neonatal death rates.

METHODS

This paper draws on secondary data from 40 low and middle income countries that conducted emergency obstetric and newborn care assessments over the last 10 years. We reviewed 6.5 million deliveries, surveyed in 15,411 facilities. Most of the data were extracted from reports and aggregated with excel.

RESULTS

Hemorrhage and hypertensive diseases contributed to about one third of institutional maternal deaths and indirect causes contributed another third (given the overrepresentation of sub-Saharan African countries with large proportions of indirect causes). The most lethal obstetric complication, across all regions, was ruptured uterus, followed by sepsis in Latin America and the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa. Stillbirth rates exceeded pre-discharge neonatal death rates in nearly all countries, possibly because women and their newborns were discharged soon after birth.

CONCLUSIONS

To a large extent, facility-based findings mirror what population-based systematic reviews have also documented. As coverage of a skilled attendant at birth increases, proportionally more deaths will occur in facilities, making improvements in record-keeping and health management information systems, especially for stillbirths and early neonatal deaths, all the more critical.

Missed Opportunities in Neonatal Deaths in Rwanda: Applying the Three Delays Model in a Cross-Sectional Analysis of Neonatal Death

Objective Administered in a timely manner, current evidence-based interventions could reduce neonatal deaths from infections, intrapartum injuries and complications due to prematurity. The three delays model (delay in seeking care, in arriving at a health facility, and in receiving adequate care), which has been applied to understanding maternal deaths, may be useful for understanding neonatal deaths. We assess the main causes of neonatal deaths in Rwanda and their associated delays. Methods Using a cross-sectional study design, we evaluated data from 2012 from 40 facilities in which babies were delivered. Audit committees in each facility reviewed each neonatal death in the facility and reported finding to the Ministry of Health using structured questionnaires. Information from questionnaires were centralized in an electronic database. At the end of 2012, records from 40 health facilities across Rwanda's five provinces (mainly district hospitals) were available in the database and were used for this analysis. Results Of the 1324 neonates, the major causes of death were: asphyxia and its complications (36.7%), lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) (22.5%), and prematurity (22.4%). At least one delay was experienced by nearly three-quarters of neonates: Maternal Delay in Seeking Care 22.1%, Maternal Delay in Arrival to Care 11.2%, Maternal Delay in Adequate Care 14.2%, Neonatal Delay in Seeking Care 8.1%, Neonatal Delay in Arrival to Care 9.3%, and Neonatal Delay in Adequate Care 29.1%. Neonates with each of the main causes of death had statistically significantly increased odds of experiencing Maternal Delay in Seeking Care. Asphyxia deaths had increased odds of experiencing all three Maternal Delays. LRTI deaths had increased odds of all three Neonatal Delays. Conclusion Delays for women in seeking obstetrical care is a critical factor associated with the main causes of neonatal death in Rwanda. Improving obstetrical care quality could reduce neonatal deaths due to asphyxia. Likewise, reducing all three delays could reduce neonatal deaths due to LRTI.

Is time of birth a predictor of adverse perinatal outcome? A hospital-based cross-sectional study in a low-resource setting, Tanzania

Background

Inconsistent evidence of a higher risk of adverse perinatal outcomes during off-hours compared to office hours necessitated a search for clear evidence of an association between time of birth and adverse perinatal outcomes.

Methods

A cross-sectional study conducted at a tertiary referral hospital compared perinatal outcomes across three working shifts over 24 h. A checklist and a questionnaire were used to record parturients’ socio-demographic and obstetric characteristics, mode of delivery and perinatal outcomes, including 5th minute Apgar score, and early neonatal mortality. Risks of adverse outcomes included maternal age, parity, referral status and mode of delivery, and were assessed for their association with time of delivery and prevalence of fresh stillbirth as a proxy for poor perinatal outcome at a significance level of p = 0.05.

Results

Off-hour deliveries were nearly twice as likely to occur during the night shift (odds ratio (OR), 1.62; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.50–1.72), but were unlikely during the evening shift (OR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.45–0.71) (all p < 0.001). Neonatal distress (O.R, 1.48, 95% CI; 1.07–2.04, p = 0.02), early neonatal deaths (OR, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.07–2.72, p = 0.03) and fresh stillbirths (OR, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.31–2.90, p = 0.001) were more significantly associated with deliveries occurring during night shifts compared to evening and morning shifts. However, fresh stillbirths occurring during the night shift were independently associated with antenatal admission from clinics or wards, referral from another hospital, and abnormal breech delivery (OR 1.9; 95% CI, 1.3–2.9, p = 0.001, for fresh stillbirths; OR, 5.0; 95% CI 1.7–8.3, p < 0.001, for antenatal admission; OR, 95% CI, 1.1–2.9, p < 0.001, for referral form another hospital; and OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.02–2.6, p = 0.004, for abnormal breech deliveries).

Conclusion

Off-hours deliveries, particularly during the night shift, were significantly associated with higher proportions of adverse perinatal outcomes, including low Apgar score, early neonatal death and fresh stillbirth, compared to morning and evening shifts. Labour room admissions from antenatal wards, referrals from another hospital and abnormal breech delivery were independent risk factors for poor perinatal outcome, particularly fresh stillbirths.

Evaluation of obstetricians' surgical decision making in the management of uterine rupture

Background

Uterine rupture is an obstetric calamity with surgery as its management mainstay. Uterine repair without tubal ligation leaves a uterus that is more prone to repeat rupture while uterine repair with bilateral tubal ligation (BTL) or (sub)total hysterectomy predispose survivors to psychosocial problems like marital disharmony.

This study aims to evaluate obstetricians’ perspectives on surgical decision making in managing uterine rupture.

Methods

A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study of obstetricians at the 46th annual scientific conference of Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria in 2012. Data was analysed by descriptive and inferential statistics.

Results

Seventy-nine out of 110 obstetricians (71.8%) responded to the survey, of which 42 (53.2%) were consultants, 60 (75.9%) practised in government hospitals and 67 (84.8%) in urban hospitals, and all respondents managed women with uterine rupture. Previous cesarean scars and injudicious use of oxytocic are the commonest predisposing causes, and uterine rupture carries very high incidences of maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity. Uterine repair only was commonly performed by 38 (48.1%) and uterine repair with BTL or (sub) total hysterectomy by 41 (51.9%) respondents. Surgical management is guided mainly by patients’ conditions and obstetricians’ surgical skills.

Conclusion

Obstetricians’ distribution in Nigeria leaves rural settings starved of specialist for obstetric emergencies. Caesarean scars are now a rising cause of ruptures. The surgical management of uterine rupture and obstetricians’ surgical preferences vary and are case scenario-dependent. Equitable redistribution of obstetricians and deployment of medical doctors to secondary hospitals in rural settings will make obstetric care more readily available and may reduce the prevalence and improve the outcome of uterine rupture. Obstetrician’s surgical decision-making should be guided by the prevailing case scenario and the ultimate aim should be to avert fatality and reduce morbidity.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12884-017-1367-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Case review of perinatal deaths at hospitals in Kigali, Rwanda: perinatal audit with application of a three-delays analysis

Background

Perinatal audit and the three-delays model are increasingly being employed to analyse barriers to perinatal health, at both community and facility level. Using these approaches, our aim was to assess factors that could contribute to perinatal mortality and potentially avoidable deaths at Rwandan hospitals.

Methods

Perinatal audits were carried out at two main urban hospitals, one at district level and the other at tertiary level, in Kigali, Rwanda, from July 2012 to May 2013. Stillbirths and early neonatal deaths occurring after 22 completed weeks of gestation or more, or weighing at least 500 g, were included in the study. Factors contributing to mortality and potentially avoidable deaths, considering the local resources and feasibility, were identified using a three-delays model.

Results

Out of 8424 births, there were 269 perinatal deaths (106 macerated stillbirths, 63 fresh stillbirths, 100 early neonatal deaths) corresponding to a stillbirth rate of 20/1000 births and a perinatal mortality rate of 32/1000 births. In total, 250 perinatal deaths were available for audit. Factors contributing to mortality were ascertained for 79% of deaths. Delay in care-seeking was identified in 39% of deaths, delay in arriving at the health facility in 10%, and provision of suboptimal care at the health facility in 37%. Delay in seeking adequate care was commonly characterized by difficulties in recognising or reporting pregnancy-related danger signs. Lack of money was the major cause of delay in reaching a health facility. Delay in referrals, diagnosis and management of emergency obstetric cases were the most prominent contributors affecting the provision of appropriate and timely care by healthcare providers. Half of the perinatal deaths were judged to be potentially avoidable and 70% of these were fresh stillbirths and early neonatal deaths.

Conclusions

Factors contributing to delays underlying perinatal mortality were identified in more than three-quarters of deaths. Half of the perinatal deaths were considered likely to be preventable and mainly related to modifiable maternal inadequate health-seeking behaviours and intrapartum suboptimal care. Strengthening the current roadmap strategy for accelerating the reduction of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality is needed for improved perinatal survival.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12884-017-1269-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Using the Three Delays Model to Examine Civil Registration Barriers in Indonesia

The Three Delays Model has proven a useful framework for examining barriers to seeking obstetric care and preventing maternal and child mortality. This article demonstrates the applicability of the Three Delays Model to the case of civil registration in rural Indonesia and examines ways that efforts to strengthen civil registration services can draw on lessons from maternal and child health programming. Twenty focus group discussions were conducted using a participatory ranking exercise in four Indonesian districts. Focus groups were stratified into four groups: (1) government officials involved in civil registration, (2) civil society organization members that assist communities in civil registration, and (3) female and (4) male community members. Transcripts were analyzed using constant comparative method and thematic analysis, revealing barriers that communities commonly faced in accessing civil registration services. In examining the categories and themes related to these barriers, the research team found a significant overlap with the factors and phases of the Three Delays Model. Participants were delayed from seeking registration services by a range of sociocultural factors and by the perceived inaccessibility and poor quality of services. Once they decided to seek care, long distances to services and poor transportation options delayed their access to registration offices. Finally, a series of bottlenecks in service provision created extended delays once applicants reached registration offices. Ownership of civil registration documents in Indonesia remains exceptionally low, with just over half of children and youth possessing a birth certificate. To strengthen civil registration and health systems more generally, it is important to understand the factors that enable and constrain civil registration, how these factors relate to one another, and how they change over a child’s life.

Beyond too little, too late and too much, too soon: a pathway towards evidence-based, respectful maternity care worldwide

On the continuum of maternal health care, two extreme situations exist: too little, too late (TLTL) and too much, too soon (TMTS). TLTL describes care with inadequate resources, below evidence-based standards, or care withheld or unavailable until too late to help. TLTL is an underlying problem associated with high maternal mortality and morbidity. TMTS describes the routine over-medicalisation of normal pregnancy and birth. TMTS includes unnecessary use of non-evidence-based interventions, as well as use of interventions that can be life saving when used appropriately, but harmful when applied routinely or overused. As facility births increase, so does the recognition that TMTS causes harm and increases health costs, and often concentrates disrespect and abuse. Although TMTS is typically ascribed to high-income countries and TLTL to low-income and middle-income ones, social and health inequities mean these extremes coexist in many countries. A global approach to quality and equitable maternal health, supporting the implementation of respectful, evidence-based care for all, is urgently needed. We present a systematic review of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for routine antenatal, intrapartum, and postnatal care, categorising them as recommended, recommended only for clinical indications, and not recommended. We also present prevalence data from middle-income countries for specific clinical practices, which demonstrate TLTL and increasing TMTS. Health-care providers and health systems need to ensure that all women receive high-quality, evidence-based, equitable and respectful care. The right amount of care needs to be offered at the right time, and delivered in a manner that respects, protects, and promotes human rights.

Audit of a program to increase the use of vacuum extraction in Mulago Hospital, Uganda

BACKGROUND

Prolonged second stage of labour is a major cause of perinatal and maternal morbidity and mortality in low-income countries. Vacuum extraction is a proven effective intervention, hardly used in Africa. Many authors and organisations recommend (re)introduction of vacuum extraction, but successful implementation has not been reported. In 2012, a program to increase the use of vacuum extraction was implemented in Mulago Hospital, Uganda. The program consisted of development of a vacuum extraction guideline, supply of equipment and training of staff. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of the program.

METHODS

Audit of a quality improvement intervention with before and after measurement of outcome parameters.

SETTING

Mulago Hospital, the national referral hospital for Uganda with approximately 33 000 deliveries per year. It is the university teaching hospital for Makerere University and most of the countries doctors and midwives are trained here. Data was collected from hospital registers and medical files for a period of two years. Main outcome measures were vacuum extraction rate, intrapartum stillbirth, neonatal death, uterine rupture, maternal death and decision to delivery interval.

RESULTS

Mode of delivery and outcome of 12 143 deliveries before and 34 894 deliveries after implementation of the program were analysed. The vacuum extraction rate increased from 0.6 - 2.4 % of deliveries (p < 0.01) and was still rising after 18 months. There was a decline in intrapartum stillbirths from 34 to 26 per 1000 births (-23.6 %, p < 0.01) and women with uterine rupture from 1.1 - 0.8 per 100 births (-25.5 %, p < 0.01). Decision to delivery interval for vacuum extraction was four hours shorter than for caesarean section.

CONCLUSIONS

A program to increase the use of vacuum extraction was successful in a high-volume university hospital in sub-Saharan Africa. The use of vacuum extraction increased. An association with improved maternal and perinatal outcome is strongly suggested. We recommend broad implementation of vacuum extraction, whereby university hospitals like Mulago Hospital can play an important role.To support implementation, we recommend further research into outcome of vacuum extraction and into vacuum extraction devices for low-income countries. Such studies are now in progress at Mulago Hospital.

Maternal death reviews at Bugando hospital north-western Tanzania: a 2008-2012 retrospective analysis

BACKGROUND

Unacceptably high levels of maternal deaths still occur in many sub-Saharan countries and the health systems may not favour effective use of lessons from maternal death reviews to improve maternal survival. We report results from the analysis of data from maternal death reviews at Bugando Medical Centre north-western Tanzania in the period 2008-2012 and highlight the process, challenges and how the analysis provided a better understanding of maternal deaths.

METHODOLOGY

Retrospective analysis using maternal death review data and extraction of missing information from patients' files. Analysis was done in STATA statistical package into frequencies and means ± SD and median with 95% CI for categorical and numerical data respectively.

RESULTS

There were 80 deaths; mean age of the deceased 27.1 ± 6.2 years and a median hospital stay of 11.0 days [95% CI 11.0-15.3]. Most deaths were from direct obstetric causes (90); 60% from eclampsia, severe pre-eclampsia, sepsis, abortion and anaesthetic complications. Information on ANC attendance was recorded in 36.2% of the forms and gestation age of the pregnancy resulting into the death in 23.8%. Sixty one deaths (76.3%) occurred after delivery. The mode of delivery, place of delivery and delivery assistant were recorded in 44 (72.1), 38 (62.3) and 23 (37.7%) respectively.

CONCLUSION

Routine maternal death reviews in this setting do not involve comprehensive documentation of all relevant information, including actions taken to address some identified systemic weaknesses. Periodic analysis of available data may allow better understanding of vital information to improve the quality of maternity care.

Facility Delivery, Postnatal Care and Neonatal Deaths in India: Nationally-Representative Case-Control Studies

Objective

Clinical studies demonstrate the efficacy of interventions to reduce neonatal deaths, but there are fewer studies of their real-life effectiveness. In India, women often seek facility delivery after complications arise, rather than to avoid complications. Our objective was to quantify the association of facility delivery and postnatal checkups with neonatal mortality while examining the “reverse causality” in which the mothers deliver at a health facility due to adverse perinatal events.

Methods

We conducted nationally representative case-control studies of about 300,000 live births and 4,000 neonatal deaths to examine the effect of, place of delivery and postnatal checkup on neonatal mortality. We compared neonatal deaths to all live births and to a subset of live births reporting excessive bleeding or obstructed labour that were more comparable to cases in seeking care.

Findings

In the larger study of 2004–8 births, facility delivery without postnatal checkup was associated with an increased odds of neonatal death (Odds ratio = 2.5; 99% CI 2.2–2.9), especially for early versus late neonatal deaths. However, use of more comparable controls showed marked attenuation (Odds ratio = 0.5; 0.4–0.5). Facility delivery with postnatal checkup was associated with reduced odds of neonatal death. Excess risks were attenuated in the earlier study of 2001–4 births.

Conclusion

The combined effect of facility deliveries with postnatal checks ups is substantially higher than just facility delivery alone. Evaluation of the real-life effectiveness of interventions to reduce child and maternal deaths need to consider reverse causality. If these associations are causal, facility delivery with postnatal check up could avoid about 1/3 of all neonatal deaths in India (~100,000/year).

Call for neonatal nursing specialization in developing countries

In an attempt to reach Millennium Development Goals, health facility births, which are births occurring in health centers, facilities, or institutions under the care of a skilled birth attendant, are increasing in developing countries. We examined the state of neonatal nursing care in the context of issues related to the capacity of these health facilities to provide quality care and the high facility mortality rates in those neonates admitted to hospital. Neonatal nursing as a specialty within a community-hospital-community network system is proposed as an effective scaling-up strategy to improve neonatal survival. Establishment of international competency standards for neonatal nursing together with regulatory processes with mechanisms to facilitate specialty education forms the basis for the specialty of neonatal nursing. We have identified a strategy to mobilize financial resources for the development of the specialty of neonatal nursing. Evaluation of trends in mortality and identification of process indicators will facilitate examination of the effectiveness of the introduction of the specialty of neonatal nursing as a scaling-up strategy.

Antenatal depression is associated with pregnancy-related anxiety, partner relations, and wealth in women in Northern Tanzania: a cross-sectional study

Background

Psychosocial health problems, specifically depression during pregnancy, can have negative impact on birth outcomes, postnatal mental health of the mother, and infant health. Antenatal depression is more prevalent among women in low- and middle-income countries than among women in high-income countries. Risk factors for antenatal depression reported in the literature relate to pregnant women in South Asia. Consequently, this study assessed depression in pregnancy and related psychosocial risk factors among select pregnant women residing in Mwanza region, Northern Tanzania.

Methods

We analysed data from 397 pregnant women recruited from three antenatal clinics for the period June—August 2013 for this cross-sectional study. Women provided data at one time point during their pregnancy by completing the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and a structured questionnaire assessing psychosocial, demographic, and behavioural risk factors related to antenatal depression. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the relationship between risk factors examined and antenatal depression.

Results

Overall, 33.8 % (n = 134) of pregnant women had antenatal depression. Pregnancy-related anxiety was associated with antenatal depression (odds ratio (OR) 1.36, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.23 to 1.5). Pregnant women with poor relationship with partner and low/moderate socio-economic status had the highest OR for antenatal depression (82.34, 95 % CI 4.47, 1516.60) after adjusting for other covariates. Pregnant women with poor relationship with partner and high socio-economic status had an OR of 13.48 (95 % CI 1.71, 106.31) for antenatal depression. “Reference” pregnant women were those with very good relationship with partner and high socio-economic status.

Conclusions

High proportion of self-reported depression among select pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in Mwanza, Tanzania merit integrating depression assessment into existing antenatal care services. Health care providers need to assess pregnancy-related risk factors (pregnancy-related anxiety), socio-demographic factors (socio-economic status), and interpersonal risk factors (relationship with partner). Future research should appraise effectiveness of interventions that enhance partner relationships in reducing antenatal depression across all wealth distributions.

Neonatal admissions, quality of care and outcome: 4 years of inpatient audit data from The Gambia's teaching hospital

BACKGROUND

National facility-based neonatal mortality audits are an important source of data to identify areas for improvement of service delivery and outcome of care.

OBJECTIVES

To examine admissions to the neonatal unit, Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital, Banjul, The Gambia and make recommendations for programme action to reduce mortality through improvements in the quality of care, particularly with respect to suspected neonatal infections.

METHODS

Case notes were reviewed for all neonates admitted to the neonatal unit during a 5-year period (1 January 2009 to 31 December 2013) to assess outcome and quality of care. Data for 2009 were subsequently excluded because of the low proportion of records retrieved.

RESULTS

Of the 4944 admissions between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2013, 1734 infants (35%) died, with 57% of all deaths occurring within the first 48 hours of admission. There were 1267 early neonatal deaths (deaths occurring during the first 7 days of life), 67% of which occurred during the first 48 hours of life. Independent predictors of neonatal death in the multivariable analysis were; maternal lack of antenatal care, non-teaching hospital delivery, admission weight < 1500 g, abnormal blood glucose concentration ( < 2.6 mmol/L or >6.9 mmol/L) and hypothermia (axillary temperature < 36.5 ˚C). Forty-eight per cent of newborns had point-of-admission hypothermia. Possible severe bacterial infection (pSBI) accounted for 44% (2166/4944) of admissions, prematurity/low birthweight for 27% (1340/4944) and intrapartum-related conditions for 20%. Only 5% (104/2166) of pSBI cases had at least one supportive investigation; 41 had a chest radiograph, 26 had a blood culture and 43 had a lumbar puncture. Although 94% of the newborns received intravenous antibiotics, 55% of those who did lacked clinical evidence of pSBI and had no diagnostic work-up.

CONCLUSION

Priority areas for action include infection prevention and improved diagnosis and management. There is also scope to reduce hypothermia with feasible interventions particularly targeting preterm infants. Improved patient records and audit data with linked action and accountability are interventions which could prevent such deaths of newborns in The Gambia and other developing countries.

A meta-analysis of socio-demographic factors for perinatal mortality in developing countries: a subgroup analysis of the national surveys and small scale studies

BACKGROUND

Although the perinatal mortality in low income countries is about five-folds higher than in the high income countries, little is known about the association of socio-demographic factors with perinatal mortality. National and small scale studies so far reported have shown very contradictory results. The objective of this meta-analysis was to assess the association of perinatal mortality with selected sociodemographic factors.

METHODS

A computer based literature search was conducted mainly in the databases of African Journals Online, MEASURE Demographic and Health Survey (DHS), Google Scholar, HINARI, PUBMED, MEDLINE and the Cochrane Library. The inclusion criteria were: 1) studies that assessed the perinatal mortality in developing countries in relation to socio-demographic predictors and 2) studies published in English and conducted after the year 1990. Subgroup meta-analyses of perinatal mortality were performed for mothers' age, residence, educational level and wealth status. Sensitivity analysis and heterogeneity testing were done.

RESULTS

In this meta-analysis, several inconsistent associations of perinatal mortality with the selected socio-demographic variables were observed in the primary studies level, both DHS and small scale studies. However, the overall odds ratio (OR) demonstrated statistically significant association of perinatal mortality with low maternal age (OR=1.2) and short birth interval (OR=1.4) but was not influenced by the mothers' residence, low educational level and household wealth index. Very consistently, the highest perinatal mortality rates reported when the birth intervals were either too short (<15 months) or too long (>39 months).

CONCLUSION

Because of the disagreement among previous studies, the present study demonstrated a small effect size on the increased risk of perinatal mortality among women who were pregnant during teenage ages and gave birth too frequently or after a long interval. Therefore, to confirm the strong predictors of perinatal mortality, further studies on sociodemographic factors are needed.

Maternal mortality and distance to facility-based obstetric care in rural southern Tanzania: a secondary analysis of cross-sectional census data in 226 000 households

BACKGROUND

Access to skilled obstetric delivery and emergency care is deemed crucial for reducing maternal mortality. We assessed pregnancy-related mortality by distance to health facilities and by cause of death in a disadvantaged rural area of southern Tanzania.

METHODS

We did a secondary analysis of cross-sectional georeferenced census data collected from June to October, 2007, in five rural districts of southern Tanzania. Heads of georeferenced households were asked about household deaths in the period June 1, 2004, to May 31, 2007, and women aged 13-49 years were interviewed about birth history in the same time period. Causes of death in women of reproductive age were ascertained by verbal autopsy. We also asked for sociodemographic information. Multilevel logistic regression was used to analyse the effects of distance to health facilities providing delivery care on pregnancy-related mortality (direct and indirect maternal and coincidental deaths).

FINDINGS

The study included 818 583 people living in 225 980 households. Pregnancy-related mortality was high at 712 deaths per 100 000 livebirths, with haemorrhage being the leading cause of death. Deaths due to direct causes of maternal mortality were strongly related to distance, with mortality increasing from 111 per 100 000 livebirths among women who lived within 5 km to 422 deaths per 100 000 livebirths among those who lived more than 35 km from a hospital (adjusted odds ratio 3·68; 95% CI 1·37-9·88). Neither pregnancy-related nor indirect maternal mortality was associated with distance to hospital. Among women who lived within 5 km of a hospital, pregnancy-related mortality was 664 deaths per 100 000 livebirths even though 72% gave birth in hospital and 8% had delivery by caesarean section.

INTERPRETATION

Large distances to hospital contribute to high levels of direct obstetric mortality. High pregnancy-related mortality in those living near to a hospital suggests deficiencies in quality of care.

FUNDING

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.