OBJECTIVE To determine whether the obstetric gel shortens the second stage of labor and exerts a protective effect on the perineum. METHOD A total of 251 nulliparous women with singleton low-risk pregnancies in vertex position at term were recruited. A total of 228 eligible women were randomly assigned to Group A, without obstetric gel use, or to Group B, obstetric gel use, i.e., intermittent...

Objectives: To determine the incidence, indications, maternal and perinatal outcome of obstetric hysterectomy. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study of 80 women who had obstetric hysterectomy at the Obstetric unit of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, (UPTH) Nigeria, between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2011 was conducted. Data was obtained from the theatre records, l...

Obstetric fistula, a devastating complication of prolonged obstructed labor, was once common in the Western world but now occurs almost exclusively in resource-poor countries. Although much has been written about the surgical repair of obstetric fistulas, prevention of fistulas has garnered comparatively little attention. Because obstetric fistulas result from obstructed labor (one of the commo...

BACKGROUND Reduction of maternal mortality ratio by two-thirds by 2015 is an international development goal with unrestricted access to high quality emergency obstetric care services promoted towards the attainment of that goal. The objective of this qualitative study was to assess the availability and quality of emergency obstetric care services in Gambia's main referral hospital. METHODS Fr...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES The ambiguity and variability in existing literature on the magnitude of socio-economic inequality in self-reported morbidities makes it difficult to set priorities in health policy. This study examined three critical research questions: first, how far self-reporting affects measuring socio-economic inequalities in case of obstetric morbidities. Second, does using simple...

Adverse events during the perinatal period have traditionally been thought to contribute to the risk of febrile seizures although an association has not been found in large epidemiological studies. Disease-discordant twins provide a means to assess the role of non-shared environmental factors while matching for confounding factors and avoiding difficulties of epidemiological studies in singleto...

With only four years left for the Millennium Development Goal's 2015 deadline for reducing poor maternal health outcomes, developing countries are still bearing a huge burden of maternal morbidity worldwide. Estimates show that over 2 million women worldwide are suffering from obstetric fistula, the majority of which live in sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Arab region. The purpose o...

BACKGROUND For many women in Kenya, their husbands act as gate-keepers to access of healthcare services. Awareness of the danger signs of obstetric complications is the essential first step in accepting appropriate and timely referral to obstetric care. The objectives of this study were to assess men's awareness of the danger signs of obstetric complications, and to identify any associated demo...

INTRODUCTION Two million women worldwide are living with genital fistula with an annual incidence of 50,000-100,000 women. Risk factors for obstetric fistula are context bound. Studies from other countries show variation in the risk factors for obstetric fistula. This study was conducted to identify risk factors for obstetric fistula in western Ugandan context. METHODS A case control study co...

SETTING The Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia. OBJECTIVES To ascertain 1) the non-obstetric causes of maternal mortality, 2) the importance of tuberculosis as a cause of maternal deaths, and 3) the trends in the aetiology of non-obstetric causes of maternal deaths during the past decade in the light of the human immunodeficiency virus epide...