Factors influencing the uptake of antenatal care in Uganda: a mixed methods systematic review.

Background: In 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended increasing antenatal care (ANC) visits from four to eight to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality. However, many low-middle income countries (LMICs), including Uganda, struggle to achieve even the basic four ANC visits. To further improve ANC attendance, understanding the perceptions and beliefs of end users is crucial.

Healthcare workers' informal uses of mobile phones and other mobile devices to support their work: a qualitative evidence synthesis.

Background: Healthcare workers sometimes develop their own informal solutions to deliver services. One such solution is to use their personal mobile phones or other mobile devices in ways that are unregulated by their workplace. This can help them carry out their work when their workplace lacks functional formal communication and information systems, but it can also lead to new challenges.

Lay health workers in primary and community health care for maternal and child health: identification and treatment of wasting in children.

Background: Since the early 2010s, there has been a push to enhance the capacity to effectively treat wasting in children through community-based service delivery models and thus reduce morbidity and mortality.

Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of identification and treatment of moderate and severe wasting in children aged five years or under by lay health workers working in the community compared with health providers working in health facilities.

Search Methods: We searched MEDLINE, CENTRAL, two other databases, and two ongoing trials registers to 24 September 2021.

Implementing the skilled birth attendance strategy in Uganda: a policy analysis.

Background: Uganda, a low resource country, implemented the skilled attendance at birth strategy, to meet a key target of the 5th Millenium Development Goal (MDG), 75% reduction in maternal mortality ratio. Maternal mortality rates remained high, despite the improvement in facility delivery rates. In this paper, we analyse the strategies implemented and bottlenecks experienced as Uganda's skilled birth attendance policy was rolled out.

Ugandan health workers' and mothers' views and experiences of the quality of maternity care and the use of informal solutions: A qualitative study.

Introduction: Although the coverage of maternity services in some low and middle-income countries (LMIC) has greatly improved, the quality of maternity care remains poor, and maternal mortality rates are high. In this study, we describe the meaning and determinants of maternity care quality from the perspective of health workers and mothers in Uganda, the informal solutions used by health workers to manage their daily challenges, and we suggest ways in which maternal care quality can be improved.

Methods: We conducted a qualitative study in the Mpigi and Rukungiri districts of Uganda.

Factors that influence the provision of intrapartum and postnatal care by skilled birth attendants in low- and middle-income countries: a qualitative evidence synthesis.

Background: In many low- and middle-income countries women are encouraged to give birth in clinics and hospitals so that they can receive care from skilled birth attendants. A skilled birth attendant (SBA) is a health worker such as a midwife, doctor, or nurse who is trained to manage normal pregnancy and childbirth. (S)he is also trained to identify, manage, and refer any health problems that arise for mother and baby.

Interventions aimed at communities to inform and/or educate about early childhood vaccination.

Background: A range of strategies are used to communicate with parents, caregivers and communities regarding child vaccination in order to inform decisions and improve vaccination uptake. These strategies include interventions in which information is aimed at larger groups in the community, for instance at public meetings, through radio or through leaflets. This is one of two reviews on communication interventions for childhood vaccination.

Lay health workers in primary and community health care for maternal and child health and the management of infectious diseases.

Background: Lay health workers (LHWs) are widely used to provide care for a broad range of health issues. Little is known, however, about the effectiveness of LHW interventions.

Objectives: To assess the effects of LHW interventions in primary and community health care on maternal and child health and the management of infectious diseases.

SUPPORT tools for evidence-informed policymaking in health 6: Using research evidence to address how an option will be implemented.

This article is part of a series written for people responsible for making decisions about health policies and programmes and for those who support these decision makers. After a policy decision has been made, the next key challenge is transforming this stated policy position into practical actions. What strategies, for instance, are available to facilitate effective implementation, and what is known about the effectiveness of such strategies? We suggest five questions that can be considered by policymakers when implementing a health policy or programme.

SUPPORT tools for evidence-informed policymaking in health 11: Finding and using evidence about local conditions.

This article is part of a series written for people responsible for making decisions about health policies and programmes and for those who support these decision makers. Evidence about local conditions is evidence that is available from the specific setting(s) in which a decision or action on a policy or programme option will be taken. Such evidence is always needed, together with other forms of evidence, in order to inform decisions about options.