Parental absence as an adverse childhood experience among young adults in sub-Saharan Africa.

Background: Parental absence in childhood has been associated with multiple negative consequences, such as depression and anxiety in young adulthood.

Objective: To assess whether parental absence for six months or more in childhood is associated with poor mental health and substance use in young adulthood and whether parental absence accounts for additional variance beyond those explained by other adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) among youth in sub-Saharan Africa.

Participants And Settings: We used combined Violence Against Children and Youth Survey (VACS) data from Cote d'Ivoire (2018), Lesotho (2018), Kenya (2019), Namibia (2019), and Mozambique (2019).

Reaching Youth Through Faith Leaders: Evaluation of the Faith Matters! Initiative.

Faith leaders can be uniquely positioned to guide and support young people on health issues, particularly HIV/AIDS and sexual violence. Faith Matters!, a 2-day training workshop for faith leaders, was delivered in September 2021 in Zambia. Sixty-six faith leaders completed a questionnaire at baseline, 64 at posttraining, and 59 at 3-month follow-up.

Culture clash of female Somali adolescents and sexual and reproductive health services in Oslo, Norway.

Objective: Culture influences an individual's perception of health needs. The influence of culture also applies to Somali individuals' perception of their sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and uptake of related services. An understanding of female Somali adolescents' SRH needs is vital to achieve inclusive health coverage.

Childbirth experiences of Sudanese women living with obstetric fistula - A qualitative study.

Background: Obstetric Fistula results from failure to manage obstructed labor in a timely manner; the failure can be attributed to many factors. Therefore, the study seeks to provide a better understanding of the circumstances surrounding the occurrence of Obstetric Fistula using the Three-Delays model.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 women living with OF.

Correction to: "I feel myself incomplete, and I am inferior to people": experiences of Sudanese women living with obstetric fistula in Khartoum, Sudan.

Following publication of the original article [1], we have been notified that one of the authors' names was mentioned twice. Currently the authors are stated as.

Still a moral dilemma: how Ethiopian professionals providing abortion come to terms with conflicting norms and demands.

Background: The Ethiopian law on abortion was liberalized in 2005. However, as a strongly religious country, the new law has remained controversial from the outset. Many abortion providers have religious allegiances, which begs the question how to negotiate the conflicting demands of their jobs and their commitment to their patients on the one hand, and their religious convictions and moral values on the other.

"I feel myself incomplete, and I am inferior to people": experiences of Sudanese women living with obstetric fistula in Khartoum, Sudan.

Background: Obstetric fistula is among the most devastating maternal morbidities that occur as a result of prolonged, obstructed labor. Usually, the child dies in a large number of the cases. Moreover, some of the women become infertile while the majority suffer physical, psychosocial and economic challenges.

Social Determinants of Antenatal Care Service Use in Ethiopia: Changes Over a 15-Year Span.

Improving maternal health in Ethiopia is a major public health challenge. International studies indicate that it is possible to improve maternal health outcomes through action on the Social Determinants of Health (SDH). This study aimed to explore the SDH that influence the antenatal care (ANC) utilization in Ethiopia over time.

A road to obstetric fistula in Malawi: capturing women's perspectives through a framework of three delays.

Introduction: Obstetric fistula (OF) is a devastating birth injury, which leaves a woman with leaking urine and/or feces accompanied by bad smell, a situation that has been likened to death itself. The condition is caused by neglected obstructed labor. Many factors underlie fistula formation, most of which are preventable.

"I am a person but I am not a person": experiences of women living with obstetric fistula in the central region of Malawi.

Background: The consequences of living with obstetric fistula are multifaceted and very devastating for women, especially those living in poor resource settings. Due to uncontrollable leakages of urine and/or feces, the condition leaves women with peeling of skin on their private parts, and the wetness and smell subject them to stigmatization, ridicule, shame and social isolation. We sought to gain a deeper understanding of lived experiences of women with obstetric fistula in Malawi, in order to recommend interventions that would both prevent new cases of obstetric fistula as well as improve the quality of life for those already affected.

Components of maternal healthcare delivery system contributing to maternal deaths in Malawi: a descriptive cross-sectional study.

In Malawi, it has been observed that some women are dying even when they reach a comprehensive emergency obstetric care facility where the quality is expected to be high and the maternal mortality low. The objective of this study was to describe shortcomings within the maternal healthcare delivery system that might have contributed to maternal deaths in the district of Lilongwe. Retrospectively, 14 maternal deaths that occurred between January 1, 2011 and June 30, 2011 were reviewed.

High rates of burnout among maternal health staff at a referral hospital in Malawi: A cross-sectional study.

Background: Burnout among maternal healthcare workers in sub-Saharan Africa may have a negative effect on services provided and efforts to mitigate high maternal mortality rates. In Malawi, research on burnout is limited and no empirical research has been conducted specifically among maternal health staff. Therefore, the aims of the study were to examine the prevalence and degree of burnout reported by healthcare workers who provide antenatal, intrapartum, and postnatal services in a district referral hospital in Malawi; and, to explore factors that may influence the level of burnout healthcare workers experience.

The difficulty with responding to policy changes for HIV and infant feeding in Malawi.

Background: When and how to wean breastfed infants exposed to HIV infection has provoked extensive debate, particularly in low-income countries where safe alternatives to breastfeeding are rarely available. Although there is global consensus on optimal infant-feeding practices in the form of guidelines, practices are sub-optimal in much of sub-Saharan Africa. Policy-makers and health workers face many challenges in adapting and implementing these guidelines.

Potential initiators of HIV-related stigmatization: ethical and programmatic challenges for PMTCT programs.

HIV/AIDS continues to constitute a serious threat to the social and physical wellbeing of African mothers and their babies. In the hardest hit countries of sub-Saharan Africa, more than 60% of all new HIV infections are occurring in women, infants and young children.Mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) constitutes 90% of new HIV infections among infants and young children.