Performance-based financing (PBF) programs are increasingly implemented in low and middle-income countries to improve health service quality and utilization. In April 2011, a PBF pilot program was launched in Boulsa, Leo and Titao districts in Burkina Faso with the objective of increasing the provision and quality of maternal health services. We evaluate the impact of this program using facilit...

BACKGROUND Although there is a general agreement on the importance of antenatal care to improve the maternal and perinatal health, little is known about its importance to improve health facility delivery in developing countries. The objective of this study was to assess the association of antenatal care with birth in health facility. METHODS A systematic review with meta-analysis of Mantel-Ha...

BACKGROUND Antenatal care has been routine practice throughout the world since early in the 20th century, and in most developed countries, antenatal care consists of a scheduled program of individual consultations with a healthcare practitioner, using a doctor or midwife. Women seek antenatal care that provides a physical review of the health and development of their unborn baby, the reassuranc...

BACKGROUND Antenatal care has a positive effect on pregnancy, both clinically and psychologically, but consensus about the optimal number of antenatal visits is lacking. This study aims to provide insight into the dynamics of the number of antenatal visits a woman receives. Independent effects of predisposing, enabling and pregnancy-related determinants are examined. METHODS Women were recrui...

BACKGROUND Considering the global and national level commitments in improving the maternal health as well as reducing the maternal mortality, assessment of factors influencing the delivery of antenatal healthcare services becomes essential. OBJECTIVES The aim is to assess the utilization of antenatal health services and to identify the factors influencing their utilization among women of fish...

BACKGROUND Two decades after the launch of the Safe Motherhood campaign, India still accounts for at least a quarter of maternal death globally. Gujarat is one of the most economically developed states of India, but progress in the social sector has not been commensurate with economic growth. The purpose of this study was to use district-level data to gain a better understanding of equity in ac...

OBJECTIVES Our aim is evaluating the need for repeating tests for syphilis on pregnant women in the third trimester. STUDY DESIGN A single-center retrospective cohort study was performed on all women delivering 7/03-6/04. RESULTS During the study interval, 2244 women delivered at our hospital. Of those women having available records and attending at least one prenatal visit, 1940 (98.9%) we...