Insights into perceptions, responses, and challenges experienced by women and girls' survivors of sexual violence and their communities in rural Guinea, 2020.

Introduction: Gender-based violence (GBV), particularly sexual violence, is a significant global public health issue with severe physical, psychological, and social consequences for survivors and their communities, especially among women and girls. In Guinea, limited data exist on the frequency and management of sexual violence in rural areas. This study aimed to analyze the perceptions, responses, and challenges faced by women and girls' survivors of sexual violence and their communities in two rural districts of Guinea in 2020.

Length-of-stay and factors associated with early discharge after birth in health facilities in Guinea by mode of birth: Secondary analysis of Demographic and Health Survey 2018.

The immediate postpartum period (first 24 hours after birth) represents a critical time for women and newborns. Postnatal length-of-stay varies globally; in Guinea, a 24-hour facility stay following childbirth is recommended, with an emphasis on providing frequent monitoring of mother and newborn for the first 6 hours. This study describes postpartum length-of-stay following facility-based births in Guinea, and investigates factors associated with early discharge.

Uncovering community needs regarding violence against women and girls in southern Ethiopia: An explorative study.

Background: Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a significant global public health problem and a violation of human rights experienced by one in three women worldwide. This study explores community perceptions of and responses to VAWG and challenges in accessing support services among female violence survivors in Arbaminch City.

Methods: We adopted a phenomenological explorative qualitative study design.

High adherence to intermittent and continuous use of a contraceptive vaginal ring among women in a randomized controlled trial in Kigali, Rwanda.

Background: The introduction of female-initiated drug-delivery methods, including vaginal rings, have proven to be a promising avenue to address sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancies, which disproportionally affects women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa. Efficient uptake of existing and new technologies such as vaginal rings requires in depth understanding of product adherence. This remains a major challenge as data on adherence to vaginal rings from African countries is limited.

Perspectives and experiences of healthcare providers on the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in three maternal and neonatal referral hospitals in Guinea in 2020: a qualitative study.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected access to essential healthcare services. This study aimed to explore healthcare providers' perceptions and experiences of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in three referral maternal and neonatal hospitals in Guinea.

Methods: We conducted a longitudinal qualitative study between June and December 2020 in two maternities and one neonatology referral ward in Conakry and Mamou.

Adherence to option B + antiretroviral therapy and associated factors in pregnant and breastfeeding women in Sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: To assess the adherence to option B + antiretroviral therapy (ART) and associated factors in pregnant and breastfeeding women in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

Methods: We conducted a comprehensive search from 01 January 2012 to 03 October 2022, across four databases: PubMed, Scopus, Proquest Central, and Index Medicus Africain, to identify studies focused on pregnant and/or breastfeeding women living with HIV and receiving option B+ ART in SSA. Studies reporting adherence data were included in the meta-analysis.

Effects of COVID-19 pandemic on provision and use of maternal health services in Allada, southern Benin: a local health system perspective.

Objective: To assess the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the provision and use of maternal health services in southern Benin from a local health system perspective.

Methods: We conducted a qualitative study from April to December 2021 in a health district in southern Benin. We interviewed health workers involved in antenatal, delivery, postnatal and family planning care provision, alternative and spiritual care providers, administrative staff of the district hospital, community health workers, adolescents and women who had given birth in the past six weeks in public health centers were interviewed.

La pratique contraceptive moderne chez les adolescentes au Bénin: Tendances, déterminants et perspectives / Modern contraceptive use among adolescents in Benin: trends, determinants and prospects.

RésuméLa pratique contraceptive moderne augmente lentement parmi les jeunes générations au Bénin. La présente étude analyse les tendances, les déterminants du recours aux contraceptifs et leurs mécanismes d'actions chez les adolescentes. Les approches socio-écologique et intersectionnelle ont été adoptées, avec une méthode d'étude mixte portant sur les adolescentes de 15 à 19 ans sexuellement actives et non enceintes.

Stillbirth rates and their determinants in a national maternity hospital in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in 2017-2020: a cross-sectional assessment with a nested case-control study.

Background: In Cambodia, stillbirths and their underlying factors have not been systematically studied. This study aimed to assess the proportion and trends in stillbirths between 2017 and 2020 in a large maternity referral hospital in the country and identify their key determinants to inform future prevention efforts.

Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional analysis with a nested case-control study of women giving birth at the National Maternal and Child Health Centre (NMCHC) in Phnom Penh, 2017-2020.

"To give life is a journey through the unknown": an ethnographic account of childbirth experiences and practices in Southern Benin.

In Benin maternal mortality remains high at 397 deaths per 100,000 live births, despite 80% of births being attended by skilled birth attendants in health facilities. To identify childbirth practices that potentially contribute to this trend, an ethnographic study was conducted on the use of biomedical and alternative health services along the continuum of maternal care in Allada, Benin. Data collection techniques included in-depth interviews ( = 83), informal interviews ( = 86), observations ( = 32) and group discussions ( = 3).

Wealth-based inequality in the continuum of maternal health service utilisation in 16 sub-Saharan African countries.

Background: Persistent inequalities in coverage of maternal health services in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), a region home to two-thirds of global maternal deaths in 2017, poses a challenge for countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets. This study assesses wealth-based inequalities in coverage of maternal continuum of care in 16 SSA countries with the objective of informing targeted policies to ensure maternal health equity in the region.

Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data from 16 SSA countries (Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia).

Obstetric referrals, complications and health outcomes in maternity wards of large hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic: a mixed methods study of six hospitals in Guinea, Nigeria, Uganda and Tanzania.

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic affected provision and use of maternal health services. This study describes changes in obstetric complications, referrals, stillbirths and maternal deaths during the first year of the pandemic and elucidates pathways to these changes.

Design: Prospective observational mixed-methods study, combining monthly routine data (March 2019-February 2021) and qualitative data from prospective semi-structured interviews.

Stakeholders' perceptions on improving women's health after obstetric fistula repair: results from a qualitative study in Guinea.

The holistic care of obstetric fistula remains a significant public health concern in developing countries. Improving women's outcomes after repair requires perspectives on post-surgical period within which women have to fulfil their social roles and expectations, mainly becoming pregnant, cooking, resuming farming activities or sexual intercourse. Our objective was to explore stakeholders' perceptions of women's health and well-being after fistula repair, and their perspectives on strategies for improving their quality of life in Guinea.

Length of stay and determinants of early discharge after facility-based childbirth in Cameroon: analysis of the 2018 Demographic and Health Survey.

Background: A minimum length of stay following facility birth is a prerequisite for women and newborns to receive the recommended monitoring and package of postnatal care. The first postnatal care guidelines in Cameroon were issued in 1998 but adherence to minimum length of stay has not been assessed thus far. The objective of this study was to estimate the average length of stay and identify determinants of early discharge after facility birth.

The more, the better: influence of family planning discussions during the maternal, newborn and child health continuum of care on postpartum contraceptive uptake and method type among young women in Ethiopia.

This study examines the association between family planning (FP) discussions with health professionals during contact points on the maternal, newborn and child health continuum of care and timing of modern contraceptive uptake and method type in the one-year following childbirth in six regions of Ethiopia among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW). : This paper uses panel data of women aged 15-24 who were interviewed during pregnancy and the postpartum period between 2019-2021 as part of the PMA Ethiopia survey (n=652).  : Despite the majority of pregnant and postpartum AGYW attending antenatal care (ANC), giving birth in a health facility, and attending vaccination visits, one-third or less of those who received the service reported discussion of FP at any of these visits.

"So let me give you money, you give me what I want": decision-making priorities around contraceptive method and source choice among young women in Kenya.

Background: Many factors influence young women's choice of contraceptive methods and where to source them, yet less is known about whether one of these choices (method or source) is prioritized and the relationship between these choices. This study qualitatively explored decision-making around contraceptive method and source choice among young women in Kenya.

Methods: In August-September 2019, 30 in-depth interviews were conducted with women ages 18-24 who had used two or more contraceptive methods and resided in three counties: Nairobi, Mombasa or Migori.

Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on maternal and neonatal health services in three referral hospitals in Guinea: an interrupted time-series analysis.

Introduction: In sub-Saharan Africa, there is limited evidence on the COVID-19 health-related effect from front-line health provision settings. Therefore, this study aimed to analyse the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on routine maternal and neonatal health services in three referral hospitals.

Materials And Methods: We conducted an observational study using aggregate monthly maternal and neonatal health services routine data for two years (March 2019-February 2021) in three referral hospitals including two maternities: Hôpital National Ignace Deen (HNID) in Conakry and Hôpital Regional de Mamou (HRM) in Mamou and one neonatology ward: Institut de Nutrition et de Santé de l'Enfant (INSE) in Conakry.

"Separated during the first hours"-Postnatal care for women and newborns during the COVID-19 pandemic: A mixed-methods cross-sectional study from a global online survey of maternal and newborn healthcare providers.

Routine postnatal care (PNC) allows monitoring, early detection and management of complications, and counselling to ensure immediate and long-term wellbeing of mothers and newborns; yet effective coverage is sub-optimal globally. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted availability and quality of maternal and newborn care despite established guidelines promoting continuity of essential services. We conducted a cross-sectional global online survey of 424 maternal and newborn healthcare providers from 61 countries, to explore PNC provision, availability, content and quality following the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.

How has Guinea learnt from the response to outbreaks? A learning health system analysis.

Introduction: Learning is a key attribute of a resilient health system and, therefore, is central to health system strengthening. The main objective of this study was to analyse how Guinea's health system has learnt from the response to outbreaks between 2014 and 2021.

Methods: We used a retrospective longitudinal single embedded case study design, applying the framework conceptualised by Sheikh and Abimbola for analysing learning health systems.

Challenges and outcomes of implementing a national syphilis follow-up system for the elimination of congenital syphilis in Cambodia: a mixed-methods study.

Objectives: We aimed to describe the challenges and outcomes of implementing a national syphilis follow-up system to improve syphilis management in maternal and child health (MCH) services in Cambodia.

Design: Operational study; quantitative cohort data and cross sectional qualitative data.

Setting: Public health facilities at national level and in four provinces with high syphilis prevalence in Cambodia.

Contraceptive method use trajectories among young women in Kenya: A qualitative study.

Background: Many young women experience important key life transitions during adolescence and early adulthood, such as initiation of sexual activity, first use of contraceptives, marriage, and childbirth. For young women to be able to plan and manage their lives, it is critical to understand how these life events intersect and shape their contraceptive decision-making. This study aims to explore young women's contraceptive method use trajectories, including the factors that influence contraceptive decision-making throughout adolescence and youth.

Methodological reflections on health system-oriented assessment of maternity care in 16 hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa: an embedded case study.

Health facility assessments (HFAs) assessing facilities' readiness to provide services are well-established. However, HFA questionnaires are typically quantitative and lack depth to understand systems in which health facilities operate-crucial to designing context-oriented interventions. We report lessons from a multiple embedded case study exploring the experiences of HFA data collectors in implementing a novel HFA tool developed using systems thinking approach.

"I Got What I Came for": A Qualitative Exploration into Family Planning Client Satisfaction in Dosso Region, Niger.

Background: Client satisfaction is recognized as an important construct for evaluating health service provision, yet the field of family planning (FP) lacks a standard approach to its measurement. Further, little is known about satisfaction with FP services in Niger, the site of this study. This study aims to understand what features of FP visits were satisfactory or dissatisfactory from a woman's perspective and reflect on the conceptualization and measurement of satisfaction with FP services.