Navigating and manipulating childbirth services in Afar, Ethiopia: A qualitative study of cultural safety in the birthing room.

Access to maternal health services has increased in Ethiopia during the past decades. However, increasing the demand for government birthing facility use remains challenging. In Ethiopia's Afar Region, these challenges are amplified given the poorly developed infrastructure, pastoral nature of communities, distinct cultural traditions, and the more nascent health system.

"Even though they insult us, the delivery they give us is the greatest thing": a qualitative study contextualizing women's experiences with facility-based maternal health care in Ethiopia.

Background: Globally, amidst increased utilization of facility-based maternal care services, there is continued need to better understand women's experience of care in places of birth. Quantitative surveys may not sufficiently characterize satisfaction with maternal healthcare (MHC) in local context, limiting their interpretation and applicability. The purpose of this study is to untangle how contextual and cultural expectations shape women's care experience and what women mean by satisfaction in two Ethiopian regions.

The impacts of quality improvement on maternal and newborn health: preliminary findings from a health system integrated intervention in four Ethiopian regions.

Background: Quality improvement (QI) methods are effective in improving healthcare delivery using sustainable, collaborative, and cost-effective approaches. Systems-integrated interventions offer promise in terms of producing sustainable impacts on service quality and coverage, but can also improve important data quality and information systems at scale.

Methods: This study assesses the preliminary impacts of a first phase, quasi-experimental, QI health systems intervention on maternal and neonatal health outcomes in four pilot districts in Ethiopia.