OBJECTIVE To determine the met need for emergency obstetric care (EmOC) services in three Payams of Torit County, South Sudan in 2015 and to determine the frequency of each major obstetric complication. DESIGN This was a retrospective cross-sectional study. SETTING Four primary healthcare centres (PHCCs) and one state hospital in three payams (administrative areas that form a county) in Tor...

Vaginal Escherichia coli colonization is related to obstetric infections and the consequent development of infections in newborns. Ampicillin resistance among E. coli strains is increasing, which is the main choice for treating empirically many obstetric and neonatal infections. Vaginal E. coli strains are very similar to extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli with regards to the virulence factors ...

Planned home birth has been considered by some to be consistent with professional responsibility in patient care. This article critically assesses the ethical and scientific justification for this view and shows it to be unjustified. We critically assess recent statements by professional associations of obstetricians, one that sanctions and one that endorses planned home birth. We base our crit...

BACKGROUND Women of reproductive age in parts of sub-Saharan Africa are faced both with high levels of HIV and the threat of dying from the direct complications of pregnancy. Clinicians practicing in such settings have reported a high incidence of direct obstetric complications among HIV-infected women, but the evidence supporting this is unclear. The aim of this systematic review is to establi...

BACKGROUND Since 2000, the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals, which included a goal to improve maternal health by the end of 2015, has facilitated significant reductions in maternal morbidity and mortality worldwide. However, despite more focused efforts made especially by low- and middle-income countries, targets were largely unmet in sub-Saharan Africa, where women are plagued by m...

The use of low molecular weight heparins (LMWH) in obstetric care has grown considerably since their introduction into clinical practice in the early 1990s. However, because of the physiological changes of pregnancy, the predictable pharmacokinetic profile of LMWH is lost and some uncertainty exists around the optimal dosing regimen for LMWH in obstetric care. Two recent United Kingdom prospect...

To assess coverage and quality of essential obstetric care (EOC) and the appropriateness of using processindicators, a 3-month follow-up study was done in Rufiji district, Tanzania, involving 2 hospitals, 4 health centres, 10 large dispensaries and 10 randomly selected small dispensaries. Data collection was done on process indicators as suggested by UNICEF/WHO/UNFPA (UN) and 'unmet obstetric n...

BACKGROUND This paper reports on a systematic literature review exploring the importance of human resources in the quality of emergency obstetric care and thus in the reduction of maternal deaths. METHODS A systematic search of two electronic databases (ISI Web of Science and MEDLINE) was conducted, based on the following key words "quality obstetric* care" OR "pregnancy complications OR emer...

In the United States obstetric anesthesia has been a major subspecialty of anesthesiology for a long time and is now an integral part of practice of most anesthesiologists1. An obstetric anesthesiologist has become an essential member of the obstetric care team, who closely works with the obstetrician, family practitioner, midwife, neonatologist and Labor and Delivery nurse to ensure the highes...

there is an increased prevalence of maternal substance abuse during pregnancy in younger women in all socioeconomic classes and races. our aim was to determine the prevalence and correlates of self-reported substance abuse among pregnant women and obstetric complications or neonatal outcomes in iran. this retrospective cohort study is covering a five year period on medical records of pregnant w...