Women's experiences of facility-based abortion care: A WHO qualitative evidence synthesis.

The World Health Organization's Abortion Care Guideline requires abortion care to be not only safe but also effective, efficient, accessible, equitable, acceptable, and person centered. We synthesized qualitative evidence from 111 papers from 42 countries selected from a systematic search of literature published between January 1996 and September 2023. We developed a typology of experiences experienced by abortion seekers engaging with facility-based abortion care services at any stage of the abortion care pathway; factors that modify the experience as well as the consequences of these experiences for the abortion seeker.

Use of multiple micronutrient supplementation integrated into routine antenatal care: A discussion of research priorities.

Optimal maternal nutrition, including adequate intake and status of essential micronutrients, is important for the health of women and developing infants. Currently, the World Health Organization (WHO) Antenatal care recommendations for a positive pregnancy experience recommend daily iron and folic acid (IFA) supplementation as the standard of care. The use of multiple micronutrient supplements (MMS) is recommended in the context of rigorous research as more evidence was needed regarding the impact of switching from IFA supplements to MMS, including evaluation of critical clinical maternal and perinatal outcomes, acceptability, feasibility, sustainability, equity and cost-effectiveness.

Global inequities in adverse pregnancy outcomes: what can we do?

The Health Equity Leadership & Exchange Network states that "health equity exists when all people, regardless of race, sex, sexual orientation, disability, socioeconomic status, geographic location, or other societal constructs, have fair and just access, opportunity, and resources to achieve their highest potential for health." It is clear from the wide discrepancies in maternal and infant mortalities, by race, ethnicity, location, and social and economic status, that health equity has not been achieved in pregnancy care. Although the most obvious evidence of inequities is in low-resource settings, inequities also exist in high-resource settings.

Integrating international policy standards in the implementation of postnatal care: a rapid review.

Introduction: International legal and political documents can assist policy-makers and programme managers in countries to create an enabling environment to promote maternal and newborn health. This review aimed to map and summarise international legal and political documents relevant to the implementation of the WHO recommendations on maternal and newborn care for a positive postnatal experience.

Methods: Rapid review of relevant international legal and political documents, including legal and political commitments (declarations, resolutions and treaties) and interpretations (general comments, recommendations from United Nations human rights treaty bodies, joint United Nations statements).

Assessing unConventional Evidence (ACE) tool: development and content of a tool to assess the strengths and limitations of 'unconventional' source materials.

Background: When deciding whether to implement an intervention, decision-makers typically have questions on feasibility and acceptability and on factors affecting implementation. Descriptions of programme implementation and of policies and systems are rich sources of information for these questions. However, this information is often not based on empirical data collected using explicit methods.

Exploring perceptions and operational considerations for use of a smartphone application to self-monitor blood pressure in pregnancy in Lombok, Indonesia: protocol for a qualitative study.

Introduction: Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) are a leading cause of maternal deaths globally and require close monitoring of blood pressure (BP) to mitigate potential adverse effects. Despite the recognised need for research on self-monitoring of blood pressure (SMBP) among pregnant populations, there are very few studies focused on low and middle income contexts, which carry the greatest burden of HDPs. The study aims to understand the perceptions, barriers, and operational considerations for using a smartphone software application to perform SMBP by pregnant women in Lombok, Indonesia.

A global analysis of the determinants of maternal health and transitions in maternal mortality.

The reduction of maternal mortality and the promotion of maternal health and wellbeing are complex tasks. This Series paper analyses the distal and proximal determinants of maternal health, as well as the exposures, risk factors, and micro-correlates related to maternal mortality. This paper also examines the relationship between these determinants and the gradual shift over time from a pattern of high maternal mortality to a pattern of low maternal mortality (a phenomenon described as the maternal mortality transition).

Strategies to improve interpersonal communication along the continuum of maternal and newborn care: A scoping review and narrative synthesis.

Effective interpersonal communication is essential to provide respectful and quality maternal and newborn care (MNC). This scoping review mapped, categorized, and analysed strategies implemented to improve interpersonal communication within MNC up to 42 days after birth. Twelve bibliographic databases were searched for quantitative and qualitative studies that evaluated interventions to improve interpersonal communication between health workers and women, their partners or newborns' families.

Measuring women's experiences during antenatal care (ANC): scoping review of measurement tools.

Background: The new WHO model for antenatal care (ANC) focuses on improving practice, organisation and delivery of ANC within health systems, which includes both clinical care and women's experiences of care. The goal of this review is to identify tools and measures on women's experiences of ANC.

Methods: We conducted a scoping review to identify tools and measures on women's experiences of ANC.

Mistreatment of women during childbirth and postpartum depression: secondary analysis of WHO community survey across four countries.

Background: Postpartum depression (PPD) is a leading cause of disability globally with estimated prevalence of approximately 20% in low-income and middle-income countries. This study aims to determine the prevalence and factors associated with PPD following mistreatment during facility-based childbirth.

Method: This secondary analysis used data from the community survey of postpartum women in Ghana, Guinea, Myanmar and Nigeria for the WHO study, 'How women are treated during facility-based childbirth'.

The use of GRADE-CERQual in qualitative evidence synthesis: an evaluation of fidelity and reporting.

Background: GRADE-CERQual (Confidence in the Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative Research) is a methodological approach to systematically and transparently assess how much confidence decision makers can place in individual review findings from qualitative evidence syntheses. The number of reviews applying GRADE-CERQual is rapidly expanding in guideline and other decision-making contexts. The objectives of this evaluation were, firstly, to describe the uptake of GRADE-CERQual in qualitative evidence synthesis by review authors and, secondly, to assess both reporting of and fidelity to the approach.

Comparing observed occurrence of mistreatment during childbirth with women's self-report: a validation study in Ghana, Guinea and Nigeria.

Background: There has been substantial progress in developing approaches to measure mistreatment of women during childbirth. However, less is known about the differences in measurement approaches. In this study, we compare measures of mistreatment obtained from the same women using labour observations and community-based surveys in Ghana, Guinea and Nigeria.

Completion of the Continuum of Maternity Care in the Emerging Regions of Ethiopia: Analysis of the 2019 Demographic and Health Survey.

Maternal mortality in Ethiopia was estimated to be 267 per 100,000 live births in 2020. A significant number of maternal deaths occur in the emerging regions of the country: Afar, Somali, Gambela, and Benishangul-Gumuz. Achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target requires a dramatic increase in maternal healthcare utilisation during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period.

Self-monitoring of blood glucose levels among pregnant individuals with gestational diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends treatment and management of gestational diabetes (GD) through lifestyle changes, including diet and exercise, and self-monitoring blood glucose (SMBG) to inform timely treatment decisions. To expand the evidence base of WHO's guideline on self-care interventions, we conducted a systematic review of SMBG among pregnant individuals with GD.

Setting: Following PRISMA guidelines, we searched PubMed, CINAHL, LILACS, and EMBASE for publications through November 2020 comparing SMBG with clinic-based monitoring during antenatal care (ANC) globally.

Integrating non-communicable disease prevention and control into maternal and child health programmes.

argue for implementation research to meet the needs of end users and use of open source data to strengthen preventive strategies for non-communicable diseases in women of reproductive age

Self-care interventions for preconception, antenatal, intrapartum and postpartum care: a scoping review.

Objective: To identify current and emerging self-care interventions to improve maternity healthcare.

Design: Scoping review.

Data Sources: MEDLINE, Embase, EmCare, PsycINFO, Cochrane CENTRAL/CDSR, CINAHL Plus (last searched on 17 October 2021).

Measuring experience of and satisfaction with newborn care: a scoping review of tools and measures.

Background: Standardised measures on experience of care are essential to understanding the care women and newborns receive and to designing appropriate interventions and responses. This review builds on ongoing work in the realm of maternity care and complements it by reviewing existing tools and measures to assess experience of and satisfaction with the care of the newborn.

Methods: We conducted a scoping review of published literature to identify measures and tools of experience (physiological or indirect) and satisfaction with newborn care.

Women's perceptions of telephone interviews about their experiences with childbirth care in Nigeria: A qualitative study.

Our objective is to investigate women's perceptions of phone interviews about their experiences with facility childbirth care. The study was conducted between October 2020 and January 2021, in Gombe State, Nigeria. Participants were women aged 15-49 years, who delivered in ten study Primary Health Care centres, provided phone numbers, and consented to a follow-up telephone interview about their childbirth experience.

Accuracy of a smartphone application for blood pressure estimation in Bangladesh, South Africa, and Tanzania.

Undetected and unmonitored hypertension carries substantial mortality and morbidity, especially during pregnancy. We assessed the accuracy of OptiBP, a smartphone application for estimating blood pressure (BP), across diverse settings. The study was conducted in community settings: Gaibandha, Bangladesh and Ifakara, Tanzania for general populations, and Kalafong Provincial Tertiary Hospital, South Africa for pregnant populations.

Comprehensive framework for integrated action on the prevention, diagnosis, and management of anemia: An introduction.

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced in 2021 a commitment to develop a comprehensive framework for integrated action on the prevention, diagnosis, and management of anemia and to establish an Anaemia Action Alliance to support the implementation of the framework. WHO commissioned four background papers to provide reflections about the most pressing issues to be addressed for accelerating reductions in the prevalence of anemia. Here, we provide a complete vision of the framework.