Publications by authors named "Faith Muigai"
Background: Short birth intervals are a major risk factor for poor maternal and newborn outcomes. Utilisation of modern contraceptive methods during the postpartum period can reduce risky birth intervals but contraceptive coverage during this critical period remains low.
Methods: We conducted a randomised controlled experiment to test whether vouchers for free contraception, provided with and without behavioural 'nudges', could increase modern contraceptive use in the postpartum period.
Background: Group-based health services can improve maternal and newborn health outcomes. Group antenatal care and participatory learning and action cycles (PLA) with women's groups have been cited by the WHO as health systems interventions that can lead to improvements in adherence to care and health outcomes in pregnancy and the postpartum period.
Methods: We used a mixed-methods approach to assess the feasibility of a light touch group-based support intervention using the WhatsApp text-messaging platform.
Background: The burden of preterm birth, fetal growth impairment, and associated neonatal deaths disproportionately falls on low- and middle-income countries where modern obstetric tools are not available to date pregnancies and monitor fetal growth accurately. The INTERGROWTH-21 gestational dating, fetal growth monitoring, and newborn size at birth standards make this possible.
Objective: To scale up the INTERGROWTH-21 standards, it is essential to assess the feasibility and acceptability of their implementation and their effect on clinical decision-making in a low-resource clinical setting.
Using Value Stream Mapping to improve quality of care in low-resource facility settings.
Int J Qual Health Care
November 2017
Quality Problem Or Issue: Jacaranda Health (JH) is a Kenya-based organization that attempts to provide affordable, high-quality maternal and newborn healthcare through a chain of private health facilities in Nairobi.
Initial Assessment: JH needed to adopted quality improvement as an organization-wide strategy to optimize effectiveness and efficiency.
Choice Of Solution: Value Stream Mapping, a Lean Management tool, was used to engage staff in prioritizing opportunities to improve clinical outcomes and patient-centered quality of care.
Background: Since the 2009 WHO and UNICEF recommendation that women receive home-based postnatal care within the first three days after birth, a growing number of low-income countries have explored integrating postnatal home visit interventions into their maternal and newborn health strategies. This randomized trial evaluates a pilot program in which community health workers (CHWs) visit or call new mothers three days after delivery in peri-urban Kiambu County, Kenya.
Methods: Participants were individually randomized to one of three groups: 1) early postnatal care three days after delivery provided in-person with a CHW using a simple checklist, 2) care provided by phone with a CHW using the same checklist, or 3) a standard of care group.