Tag: Maternal Health
Kenya has some of the highest rates of maternal and neonatal mortality in the world at 360/100,000 and 22/1,000 live births respectively. Translated into numbers – this equates to about 7000 maternal deaths and 29,000 neonatal deaths per year in Kenya. The DFID-funded Reducing Maternal and Neonatal Death in Kenya programme aims to reduce mortality… Read more
This resource provides an overview of the key issues in relation to Quality of Maternal and Newborn (MNH) Services, and signposts key resources for further reading. Originally designed for the cadre of Health Advisers at DFID, it has been adapted to suit a broad range of actors involved in strengthening policy and programming interventions. This resource has been collaboratively produced by… Read more
Growing attention on water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) and its links to infection prevention and control (IPC) is coming to the forefront of positive change in maternal and newborn health services in low- and middle-income countries. Joanna MacQueen, Junior Communications Officer at The Soapbox Collaborative, examines the importance of simple solutions. It should be no… Read more
In order to translate global commitments of ensuring access to sexual and reproductive healthcare services for every woman and every girl into practical, affordable and sustainable interventions, policy makers and implementers need to be able to draw on solid evidence of what does and does not work. The More Mobilising Access to Maternal Health Services… Read more
The nature and scale of the problem Depression is a mental disorder characterised by low mood, loss of interest or enjoyment, and reduced energy, leading to increased fatigue, reduced activity, and marked functional impairment (WHO, 1990). Other common symptoms are reduced concentration, reduced self-esteem, ideas of guilt or unworthiness, pessimistic views of the future, ideas… Read more
The Ugandan Government has been recognised for adopting policies that have promoted a universal gender mainstreaming agenda. Uganda has been a relatively stable country for the last 30 years though its Northern region sustained a confined 20-year civil war. In the post-conflict setting, there is a convergence of this gender mainstreaming agenda with other dynamics… Read more
This manual provides simple instructions on how to integrate the management of perinatal depression into the work of a community health worker. The Thinking Healthy approach is based on some general principles that must be observed for the successful integration and delivery of the intervention. These principles should be emphasised throughout training and supervision, and include: moving… Read more
Maternal mental health is largely neglected in low- and middle-income countries. There is no routine screening or treatment of maternal mental disorders in primary care settings in South Africa. The Perinatal Mental Health Project (PMHP) developed an intervention to deliver mental health care to pregnant women in a collaborative, step-wise manner making use of existing… Read more
This HEART talks video is a recording of a seminar held at DFID Whitehall on 28th October 2015 and is led by Professor van den Broek, head of the Centre for Maternal and Newborn Health (CMNH) at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. She commences this presentation by stressing that the majority of the CMNH’s focus is on… Read more
Ayesha de Costa is an associate professor of Global Health and Senior Lecturer at the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm. She begins this lecture by noting the increasing importance of emergency obstetric care (EmOC) which can only work if it is of a high quality. EmOC should be able to provide: injectable antibiotics, injectable anticonvulsants, injectable oxytocics,… Read more
Placental insufficiency, in some form or fashion, is associated with the majority of cases of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). There are numerous causes of IUGR which are not caused primarily by placental insufficiency, but indirectly lead to it. The causes of IUGR can be subdivided into fetal and maternal etiologies. The fetal etiologies consist of… Read more