Implementation matters: assessing the effectiveness and sustainment of an obstetric triage program at a high-volume facility in Ghana.

Background: Maternal mortality remains stubbornly high in Ghana. Current national efforts are focused on improving the quality of care offered in health facilities. Obstetric triage is one intervention that has been proposed to improve the timeliness and appropriateness of care, two key elements of quality.

Introduction of the Ellavi uterine balloon tamponade into the Kenyan and Ghanaian maternal healthcare package for improved postpartum haemorrhage management: an implementation research study.

Objectives: Use of intrauterine balloon tamponades for refractory postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) management has triggered recent debate since effectiveness studies have yielded conflicting results. Implementation research is needed to identify factors influencing successful integration into maternal healthcare packages. The Ellavi uterine balloon tamponade (UBT) (Ellavi) is a new low-cost, preassembled device for treating refractory PPH.

Transitioning to the maternal death surveillance and response system from maternal death review in Ghana: Challenges and lessons learned.

Objective: To assess the current system of maternal death review (MDR) in Ghana and identify the achievements, challenges, and gaps that will assist in transitioning to the maternal death surveillance and response system (MDSR).

Methods: A secondary analysis of data from a cross-sectional study on MDSR implementation was conducted between September and October 2018. The MDSR cycle served as an analytical framework to measure the country's performance in implementing MDSR.

Scorecards and social accountability for improved maternal and newborn health services: A pilot in the Ashanti and Volta regions of Ghana.

Background: With the limited availability of quality emergency obstetric and newborn care (EmONC) in Ghana, and a lack of dialogue on the issue at district level, the Evidence for Action (E4A) program (2011-2015) initiated a pilot intervention using a social accountability approach in two regions of Ghana.

Objective: Using scorecards to assess and improve maternal and newborn health services, the intervention study evaluated the effectiveness of engaging multiple, health and non-health sector stakeholders at district level to improve the enabling environment for quality EmONC.

Methods: The quantitative study component comprised two rounds of assessments in 37 health facilities.

SYMPTEK homemade foam models for client education and emergency obstetric care skills training in low-resource settings.

Clinical training for health care workers using anatomical models and simulation has become an established norm. A major requirement for this approach is the availability of lifelike training models or simulators for skills practice. Manufactured sophisticated human models such as the resuscitation neonatal dolls, the Zoë gynaecologic simulator, and other pelvic models are very expensive, and are beyond the budgets of many training programs or activities in low-resource countries.

Cervical cancer prevention: safety, acceptability, and feasibility of a single-visit approach in Accra, Ghana.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the safety and acceptability of a single-visit approach to cervical cancer prevention combining visual inspection of the cervix with acetic acid wash (VIA) and cryotherapy.

Study Design: The study was observational. Nine clinicians were trained in VIA and cryotherapy.

Revealing the burden of maternal mortality: a probabilistic model for determining pregnancy-related causes of death from verbal autopsies.

Background: Substantial reductions in maternal mortality are called for in Millennium Development Goal 5 (MDG-5), thus assuming that maternal mortality is measurable. A key difficulty is attributing causes of death for the many women who die unaided in developing countries. Verbal autopsy (VA) can elicit circumstances of death, but data need to be interpreted reliably and consistently to serve as global indicators.