Assessing the validity of maternal report on breastfeeding counselling in Kosovo's primary health facilities.

Background: Improving the quality of breastfeeding counselling delivered by primary care providers can improve breastfeeding outcomes and ultimately reduce mortality and morbidity of children and mothers. Accurate data on coverage and quality of primary care breastfeeding counselling is essential for monitoring progress; however, global and national indicators are limited. To help address this gap, this study validated indicators of receipt and quality of breastfeeding counselling during routine consultations for infant care at seven primary health facilities across Kosovo.

What could improve surgical data system at health facilities with high surgical volume in Ethiopia?

Background: The effective management of surgical and anesthesia care relies on quality data and its readily availability for both patient-centered decision-making and facility-level improvement efforts. Recognizing this critical need, the Strengthening Systems for Improved Surgical Outcomes (SSISO) project addressed surgical care data management and information use practices across 23 health facilities from October 2019 to September 2022. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of SSISO interventions in enhancing practices related to surgical data capture, reporting, analysis, and visualization.

Validation of maternal recall of number of antenatal care visits attended in rural Southern Nepal: a longitudinal cohort study.

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the validity of maternal recall of total number of antenatal care (ANC) visits during pregnancy and factors associated with the accuracy of maternal recall.

Design: This was a longitudinal cohort study conducted from December 2018 through November 2020.

Setting: Five government health posts in the Sarlahi district of Southern Nepal.

The COVID-19 Pandemic's Impact on Health Service Utilization Among Pregnant Women in Three Nigerian States: A Mixed Methods Study.

Objective: COVID-19 disrupted health service delivery and weakened global and national health systems. The objective of this study was to describe the changes in health service utilization in three local government areas (LGAs) in Nigeria and examine factors involved.

Methods: A cross-sectional mixed-methods approach was used.

Improving surgical safety checklist utilisation at 23 public health facilities in Ethiopia: a collaborative quality improvement project.

Background: In 2009, the WHO introduced the surgical safety checklist (SSC) as one of the interventions for improving patient safety. The systematic use of structured checklists during surgery has been shown to reduce perioperative morbidity and mortality. However, SSC utilisation has been challenging in low-income and middle-income countries, including Ethiopia.

Knowledge, attitudes and practices of infection prevention and control among healthcare workers during the COVID 19 pandemic: a descriptive cross-sectional study in three Nigerian states.

Background: Emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic created unexpected challenges for health care workers. The global and national supply chain system was disrupted, and affected infection, prevention and control (IPC) practices. This study aimed at documenting health workers knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) on IPC in Nigeria during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cognitive testing of questions about antenatal care and nutrition interventions in southern Nepal.

Large scale surveys such as the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) are used to measure the coverage and quality of antenatal care (ANC)-related services. Studies have increasingly validated questions from these surveys, though few have explored respondent comprehension or associated thought processes. This study aimed to use cognitive testing and validation approaches to understand how survey respondents understand questions related to ANC-related nutrition services.

Retrospective evaluation of referral by community health workers on the uptake of intermittent preventive treatment of Malaria in pregnancy in Ohaukwu, Ebonyi State, Nigeria.

Background: The World Health Organization recommends a minimum of three doses of quality-assured sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine for intermittent preventive treatment of malaria during pregnancy (IPTp), in moderate to high malaria transmission areas in sub-Saharan Africa. Currently, coverage of IPTp lags behind coverage of antenatal care (ANC) visits; in Nigeria, 57% of women attended four or more ANC visits, whereas only 17% received the recommended three or more doses of IPTp. The innovative program aimed to close this gap by providing counseling on the benefits of comprehensive ANC, referral to ANC and community distribution of IPTp (C-IPTp), complementing IPTp at ANC.

Population attributable fractions for risk factors for spontaneous preterm births in 81 low- and middle-income countries: A systematic analysis.

Background: Complications associated with preterm birth (PTB) are the largest contributor to under-five mortality globally. Success in reaching the Sustainable Development Goal target requires identifying potentially modifiable risk factors for PTB, estimating the relative importance of these risk factors, and identifying/implementing effective prevention strategies to address them.

Methods: We conducted a literature review to define risk relationships and estimate prevalence for established risk factors for spontaneous PTB (sPTB).

A systematic review on estimating population attributable fraction for risk factors for small-for-gestational-age births in 81 low- and middle-income countries.

Background: Small for gestational age (SGA) is a public health concern since it is associated with mortality in neonatal and post-neonatal period. Despite the large magnitude of the problem, little is known about the population-attributable risk (PAR) of various risk factors for SGA. This study estimated the relative contribution of risk factors for SGA, as a basis for identifying priority areas for developing and/or implementing interventions to reduce the incidence of SGA births and related mortality and morbidity.

Antenatal care processes in rural Southern Nepal: gaps in and quality of service provision-a cohort study.

Objectives: This study aimed to compare a standard quality of care definition to one that reflected focused antenatal care (FANC) guidelines and examine associations with receipt of good quality of care.

Design: This study was a longitudinal cohort study.

Settings: Five government health posts in the Sarlahi district of Southern Nepal PARTICIPANTS: Pregnant women between the ages of 15 and 49 who presented for their first antenatal care (ANC) visit at the study health posts.

Validation of maternal report of nutrition-related interventions and counselling during antenatal care in southern Nepal.

The delivery of nutrition-related interventions and counselling during antenatal care is critical for a healthy pregnancy for both mother and child. However, the accuracy of maternal reports of many of these services during household surveys has not yet been examined. Our objectives were to assess the validity of the maternal reports of 10 antenatal nutrition interventions, including counselling, and examine associates between maternal characteristics and accuracy.

Validation of Maternal Report of Receipt of Iron-Folic Acid Supplementation during Antenatal Care in Rural Southern Nepal.

Background: Coverage of iron-folic acid (IFA) supplementation is a key indicator for tracking programmatic progress within and across countries. However, the validity of maternal report of this information during household surveys has yet to be determined.

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the validity of maternal recall of receipt of IFA supplementation during antenatal care (ANC) and factors associated with accuracy of maternal recall.

Coverage of the WHO's four essential elements of newborn care and their association with neonatal survival in southern Nepal.

Background: Despite recent improvements in child survival, neonatal mortality continues to decline at a slower rate and now represents 47% of under-five deaths globally. The World Health Organization developed core indicators to better monitor the quality of maternal and newborn health services. One such indicator for newborn health is "the proportion of newborns who received all four elements of essential care".