Implementing maternal and newborn health quality of care standards in healthcare facilities to improve the adoption of respectful maternity care in Bangladesh, Ghana and Tanzania: a controlled before and after study.

Introduction: Many women worldwide cannot access respectful maternity care (RMC). We assessed the effect of implementing maternal and newborn health (MNH) quality of care standards on RMC measures.

Methods: We used a facility-based controlled before and after design in 43 healthcare facilities in Bangladesh, Ghana and Tanzania.

Institutionalising maternal and newborn quality-of-care standards in Bangladesh, Ghana and Tanzania: a quasi-experimental study.

Introduction: Facility interventions to improve quality of care around childbirth are known but need to be packaged, tested and institutionalised within health systems to impact on maternal and newborn outcomes.

Methods: We conducted cross-sectional assessments at baseline (2016) and after 18 months of provider-led implementation of UNICEF/WHO's Every Mother Every Newborn Quality Improvement (EMEN-QI) standards (preceding the WHO Standards for improving quality of maternal and newborn care in health facilities). 19 hospitals and health centres (2.

Evaluation of a package of continuum of care interventions for improved maternal, newborn, and child health outcomes and service coverage in Ghana: A cluster-randomized trial.

Background: In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), the continuum of care (CoC) for maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) is not always complete. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an integrated package of CoC interventions on the CoC completion, morbidity, and mortality outcomes of woman-child pairs in Ghana.

Methods And Findings: This cluster-randomized controlled trial (ISRCTN: 90618993) was conducted at 3 Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) sites in Ghana.

EMBRACE intervention to improve the continuum of care in maternal and newborn health in Ghana: The RE-AIM framework-based evaluation.

Background: Improving maternal and newborn health remains one of the most critical public health challenges, particularly in low- and lower-middle-income countries. To overcome this challenge, interventions to improve the continuum of care based on real-world settings need to be provided. The Ghana Ensure Mothers and Babies Regular Access to Care (EMBRACE) Implementation Research Team conducted a unique intervention program involving over 21 000 women to improve the continuum of care, thereby demonstrating an intervention program's effectiveness in a real-world setting.

Effect of continuum-of-care intervention package on improving contacts and quality of maternal and newborn healthcare in Ghana: a cluster randomised controlled trial.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of a continuum-of-care intervention package on adequate contacts of women and newborn with healthcare providers and their reception of high-quality care.

Design: Cluster randomised controlled trial.

Setting: 32 subdistricts in 3 rural sites in Ghana.

The coverage of continuum of care in maternal, newborn and child health: a cross-sectional study of woman-child pairs in Ghana.

Introduction: The continuum of care has recently received attention in maternal, newborn and child health. It can be an effective policy framework to ensure that every woman and child receives timely and appropriate services throughout the continuum. However, a commonly used measurement does not evaluate if a pair of woman and child complies with the continuum of care.

Determinants of attending antenatal care at least four times in rural Ghana: analysis of a cross-sectional survey.

Background: Improving maternal health is a global challenge. In Ghana, maternal morbidity and mortality rates remain high, particularly in rural areas. Antenatal care (ANC) attendance is known to improve maternal health.

Factors Influencing Health Facility Delivery in Predominantly Rural Communities across the Three Ecological Zones in Ghana: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Maternal and neonatal mortality indicators remain high in Ghana and other sub-Saharan African countries. Both maternal and neonatal health outcomes improve when skilled personnel provide delivery services within health facilities. Determinants of delivery location are crucial to promoting health facility deliveries, but little research has been done on this issue in Ghana.

Continuum of Care in a Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Program in Ghana: Low Completion Rate and Multiple Obstacle Factors.

Background: Slow progress has been made in achieving the Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 in Ghana. Ensuring continuum of care (at least four antenatal visits; skilled birth attendance; postnatal care within 48 hours, at two weeks, and six weeks) for mother and newborn is crucial in helping Ghana achieve these goals and beyond. This study examined the levels and factors associated with continuum of care (CoC) completion among Ghanaian women aged 15-49.

Conducting an audit to improve the facilitation of emergency maternal and newborn referral in northern Ghana.

Ghana Health Service conducted an audit to strengthen the referral system for pregnant or recently pregnant women and newborns in northern Ghana. The audit took place in 16 facilities with two 3-month cycles of data collection in 2011. Midwife-led teams tracked 446 referred women until they received definitive treatment.

Are social support and HIV coping strategies associated with lower depression in adults on antiretroviral treatment? Evidence from rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

We assess depression rates and investigate whether depression among HIV-infected adults receiving antiretroviral treatment (ART) is associated with social support and HIV coping strategies in rural South Africa (SA). The study took place in a decentralised public-sector ART programme in a poor, rural area of KwaZulu-Natal, SA, with high-HIV prevalence and high-ART coverage. The 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ12), validated in this setting, was used to assess depression in 272 adults recently initiated on ART.

The complex association of health insurance and maternal health services in the context of a premium exemption for pregnant women: a case study in Northern Ghana.

Background: Health insurance premium exemptions for pregnant women are a strategy to increase coverage of maternal health services in sub-Saharan countries. We examine health insurance registration among pregnant women before or after the introduction of a premium exemption, and test whether registration increases utilization of maternal health services.

Methods: Data were drawn from a retrospective cohort study of 1641 women having given birth between January 2008 and August 2010 in two impoverished districts of Northern Ghana.

Does supervision improve health worker productivity? Evidence from the Upper East Region of Ghana.

Objectives: To assess whether supervision of primary health care workers improves their productivity in four districts of Northern Ghana.

Methods: We conducted a time-use study during which the activities of health workers were repeatedly observed and classified. Classification included four categories: direct patient care; documentation and reporting; staff development and facility operations; and personal time.