Establishing midwifery in low-resource settings: guidance from a mixed-methods evaluation of the Afghanistan midwifery education program.

Background: The shortage of skilled birth attendants has been a key factor in the high maternal and newborn mortality in Afghanistan. Efforts to strengthen pre-service midwifery education in Afghanistan have increased the number of midwives from 467 in 2002 to 2954 in 2010.

Objective: We analyzed the costs and graduate performance outcomes of the two types of pre-service midwifery education programs in Afghanistan that were either established or strengthened between 2002 and 2010 to guide future program implementation and share lessons learned.

'Midwives are the backbone of our health system': lessons from Afghanistan to guide expansion of midwifery in challenging settings.

Background: over the last decade Afghanistan has made large investments in scaling up the number of midwives to address access to skilled care and the high burden of maternal and newborn mortality.

Objective: at the request of the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) an evaluation was undertaken to improve the pre-service midwifery education programme through identification of its strengths and weaknesses. The qualitative component of the evaluation specifically examined: (1) programme strengths; (2) programme weaknesses; (3) perceptions of the programme's community impact; (4) barriers to provision of care and challenges to impact; (5) perceptions of the recently graduated midwife's field experience, and (6) recommendations for programme improvement.

Childbearing and contraceptive decision making amongst Afghan men and women: a qualitative analysis.

Afghanistan has one of the highest maternal mortality ratios and lowest contraceptive prevalence rates globally. Limited information is known regarding Afghan men and women's attitudes toward childbearing, child spacing, and contraceptive use, which is essential for delivery of appropriate services. We conducted a qualitative study among postpartum couples enrolled at maternity hospitals in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Prevalence and correlates of HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis knowledge among intrapartum patients and health care providers in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Little is known about blood-borne infection awareness and knowledge among obstetric populations and health care providers in Afghanistan. HIV and hepatitis B awareness and knowledge are described among 4452 intrapartum patients completing an interviewer-administered questionnaire and whole-blood rapid testing and 123 obstetric care providers completing a questionnaire between June 2006 and September 2006. Participants were enrolled from three Kabul public maternity hospitals.

Cross-sectional analysis of factors associated with prior contraceptive use among hospitalized obstetric patients in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Objective: This study was conducted to assess prevalence and correlates of prior contraceptive use among hospitalized obstetric patients in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Study Design: Medically eligible (e.g.