Who will be there when women deliver? Assuring retention of obstetric providers.

The Safe Motherhood Initiative has highlighted the need for improved health services with skilled attendants at delivery and the provision of emergency obstetric care. "Brain drain" has hampered this process and has been particularly prevalent in Ghana. Between 1993 and 2000, 68% of Ghanaian trained medical school graduates left the country.

Antepartum prediction of respiratory distress syndrome: a comparison of the shake test, the tap test and the turbidity test.

The shake test, the tap test and the turbidity test were evaluated to determine their accuracy in predicting lung function maturity, ie their ability to predict respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). The turbidity test was the most efficient with a sensitivity of 60%, a specificity of 97%, a positive predictive value of 82% and a negative predictive value of 92%. The shake test had a sensitivity of 40%, a specificity of 95%, a positive predictive value of 63% and a negative predictive value of 88%.

Hepatitis C virus seroprevalence among mothers delivering at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Ghana.

Objectives: To determine the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) carrier rate among mothers, and to determine if selected sociodemographic characteristics are associated with HCV seropositivity.

Design: Maternity Unit of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH).

Setting: A cross-sectional serological survey of mothers delivering at the KBTH.

Ghana postgraduate obstetrics/gynecology collaborative residency training program: success story and model for Africa.

Objective: We describe a residency program in Ghana that was developed to train obstetrics/gynecologist specialists for Ghana and the subregion to promote and manage the reproductive health of women and to reduce a high maternal mortality rate.

Study Design: The Carnegie-supported program, begun in 1989, is a 5-year residency in the two medical schools in Ghana, but with one central coordinating office. It has features that equip the graduate resident to practice in his/her environment.

A case-control study of early neonatal deaths at the Port Moresby General Hospital to determine associated risk factors.

From June 1998 to December 1999, mothers of 150 babies who died in the early neonatal period and 150 controls whose babies did not die were studied. In multiple logistic regression analysis the following variables were positively associated with early neonatal deaths: lack of antenatal attendance, thick meconium staining of the liquor, male sex, very low birthweight and delivery at gestational age less than 34 weeks. Maternal betelnut chewing was negatively associated with neonatal deaths.