Changes in attitudes and behaviors supportive of maternal and newborn health in Ethiopia: an evaluative case study.

Background: Ethiopia's high neonatal mortality rate led to the government's 2013 introduction of Community-Based Newborn Care (CBNC) to bring critical prevention and treatment interventions closer to communities in need. However, complex behaviors that are deeply embedded in social and cultural norms continue to prevent women and newborns from getting the care they need. A demand creation strategy was designed to create an enabling environment to support appropriate maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) behaviors and CBNC.

Are We Using the Right Approach to Change Newborn Care Practices in the Community? Qualitative Evidence From Ethiopia and Northern Nigeria.

Changing behaviors is usually a core component of the role of community health workers (CHWs), but little is known about the mechanisms through which they change behavior. We collected qualitative data from 8 sites in Ethiopia and northern Nigeria where CHWs were active to understand how they change newborn care behaviors. In each country, we conducted 12 narrative interviews and 12-13 in-depth interviews with recent mothers and 4 focus group discussions each with mothers, fathers, grandmothers, and CHWs.

People have started to deliver in the facility these days: a qualitative exploration of factors affecting facility delivery in Ethiopia.

Objectives: To understand the recent rise in facility deliveries in Ethiopia.

Design: A qualitative study.

Setting: Four rural communities in two regions of Ethiopia.

Early postnatal home visits: a qualitative study of barriers and facilitators to achieving high coverage.

Background: Timely interventions in the postnatal period are important for reducing newborn mortality, and early home visits to provide postnatal care are recommended. There has been limited success in achieving timely visits, and a better understanding of the realities of programmes is needed if improvements are to be made.

Methods: We explored barriers and facilitators to timely postnatal visits through 20 qualitative interviews and 16 focus group discussions with families and Health Extension Workers in four Ethiopian sites.

Appropriateness and timeliness of care-seeking for complications of pregnancy and childbirth in rural Ethiopia: a case study of the Maternal and Newborn Health in Ethiopia Partnership.

Background: In 2014, USAID and University Research Co., LLC, initiated a new project under the broader Translating Research into Action portfolio of projects. This new project was entitled Systematic Documentation of Illness Recognition and Appropriate Care Seeking for Maternal and Newborn Complications.

Illness recognition and care seeking for maternal complications of pregnancy and birth in rural Amhara and Oromia Regional States of Ethiopia.

Background: Ethiopia has made steady progress in improving maternal health over the decade, yet mortality remains high. The Maternal and Newborn Health in Ethiopia Partnership (MaNHEP) was a 3.5-year project aimed at developing a community-oriented model to improve maternal and newborn survival in rural Ethiopia.

"Why not bathe the baby today?": A qualitative study of thermal care beliefs and practices in four African sites.

Background: Recommendations for care in the first week of a newborn's life include thermal care practices such as drying and wrapping, skin to skin contact, immediate breastfeeding and delayed bathing. This paper examines beliefs and practices related to neonatal thermal care in three African countries.

Methods: Data were collected in the same way in each site and included 16-20 narrative interviews with recent mothers, eight observations of neonatal bathing, and in-depth interviews with 12-16 mothers, 9-12 grandmothers, eight health workers and 0-12 birth attendants in each site.

Current Neonatal Skin Care Practices in Four African Sites.

Data for this study on skin care practices and emollient use in four African sites were collected using in-depth interviews, focus-group discussions and observations. Respondents were mothers, grandmothers, fathers, health workers, birth attendants and people selling skin-care products. Analysis included content and framework analyses.

Local understandings of care during delivery and postnatal period to inform home based package of newborn care interventions in rural Ethiopia: a qualitative study.

Background: Despite a substantial decrease in child mortality in Ethiopia over the past decade, neonatal mortality remains unchanged (37/1000 live-births). This paper describes a qualitative study on beliefs and practices on immediate newborn and postnatal care in four rural communities of Ethiopia conducted to inform development of a package of community-based interventions targeting newborns.

Methods: The study team conducted eight key informant interviews (KII) with grandmothers, 27 in-depth interviews (IDI) with mothers; seven IDI with traditional birth attendants (TBA) and 15IDI with fathers, from four purposively selected communities located in Sidama Zone of Southern Nationalities, Nations, and Peoples (SNNP) Region and in East Shewa and West Arsi Zones of Oromia Region.

Umbilical cord care in Ethiopia and implications for behavioral change: a qualitative study.

Background: Infections account for up to a half of neonatal deaths in low income countries. The umbilicus is a common source of infection in such settings. This qualitative study investigates practices and perspectives related to umbilical cord care in Ethiopia.