Publications by authors named "F Serbanescu"

Maternal Death Surveillance and Response (MDSR) systems generate information that may aid efforts to end preventable maternal deaths. Many countries report MDSR data, but comparability over time and across settings has not been studied. We reviewed MDSR reports from low-and-middle income countries (LMICs) to examine core content and identify how surveillance data and data dissemination could be improved to guide recommendations and actions.

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Introduction: Postnatal care (PNC) is an underused service in the continuum of care for mothers and infants in sub-Saharan Africa. There is little evidence on health facility characteristics that influence PNC utilization. Understanding PNC use in the context of individual, community, and health facility characteristics may help in the development of programs for increased use.

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Objective: Performance of maternal death surveillance and response (MDSR) relies on the system's ability to identify and notify all maternal deaths and its ability to review all maternal deaths by a committee. Unified definitions for indicators to assess these functions are lacking. We aim to estimate notification and review coverage rates in 30 countries between 2015 and 2019 using standardised definitions.

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Background: Perinatal mortality (newborn deaths in the first week of life and stillbirths) continues to be a significant global health threat, particularly in resource-constrained settings. Low-tech, innovative solutions that close the quality-of-care gap may contribute to progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals for health by 2030. From 2012 to 2018, the Saving Mothers, Giving Life Initiative (SMGL) implemented the Birth weight and Age-at-Death Boxes for Intervention and Evaluation System (BABIES) matrix in Western Uganda.

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Article Synopsis
  • The Program to Reduce Maternal Deaths in Tanzania (2006-2019) aimed to enhance maternal and reproductive healthcare in the Kigoma region through a phased approach, focusing on accessibility, quality, and community demand.
  • The initiative notably decreased maternal and perinatal mortality rates, increased modern contraceptive use, and reduced the unmet need for contraception, ultimately transitioning to Tanzanian government oversight by 2019.
  • Key lessons from the Program highlight the importance of partnerships, quality clinical services, timely data responsiveness, and sustainability planning to successfully reduce maternal mortality in similar low-resource settings.
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