BACKGROUND There is little evidence that single-session debriefing is effective in reducing adverse mental health outcomes after trauma. Few trials have included long-term follow-up, but two also suggest possible negative effects of debriefing. We aimed to assess longer-term maternal health outcomes in a trial of midwife-led debriefing following an operative birth, given that findings at six mo...

BACKGROUND Despite limited evidence of its effectiveness, performance-based payments (P4P) are seen by leading policymakers as a potential solution to the slow progress in reaching Millennium Development Goal 5: improved maternal health. This paper offers insights into two of the aspects that are lacking in the current literature on P4P, namely what strategies health workers employ to reach set...

BACKGROUND Military professionals who deploy to combat operations may encounter hazards that could adversely affect reproductive health. Pregnant women are generally exempt from deployment to military operations; however, exposures to such environments may inadvertently occur. We investigated whether maternal deployment during pregnancy was associated with adverse health outcomes in infants. ...

Background: While concerns about adverse health outcomes of unintended pregnancies for the mother have been expressed, there has only been limited research on the outcomes of unintended pregnancies. This review provides an overview of antecedents and maternal health outcomes of unintended pregnancies (UIPs) carried to term live

The effects of dengue infection during pregnancy have not been previously studied in Rio Branco, Acre State, Brazil. The aim of this study was to determine the risks of maternal, fetal, and infant complications resulting from dengue infection during pregnancy. The study compared two cohorts of pregnant women, exposed versus unexposed to dengue virus, from 2007 to 2012. Incidence rates and risk ...

OBJECTIVE To report the distribution and availability of the indicators describing the population of childbearing women in Europe and to assess the impact of the difference in the distribution of two of these indicators (age and multiple births) on some outcome indicators. METHODS The six PERISTAT indicators of population characteristics were computed using data from a survey of data provider...

The link between social networks and mental health has increasingly been recognized by public health as an important topic of interest. In this paper, we explore this association among a specific group: mothers. Specifically, we discuss how maternal mental health can be understood in the context of social networks, the influence of specific social relationships, and how the type and quality of ...

Absenteeism of health workers in developing countries is widespread with some estimates indicating rates of provider absence of nearly 40% (Chaudhury et. al. 2006). This is the first paper to present evidence of the impact of health provider absence combined with limitations in health clinic protocol on health outcomes. Using longitudinal data from nearly 600 ante-natal care seekers at a rural ...

In this article we examine whether measures of gender equality, household decision making, and attitudes toward gender-based violence are associated with maternal and child health outcomes in Africa. We pooled Demographic and Health Surveys data from eight African countries and used multilevel logistic regression on two maternal health outcomes (low body mass index and facility delivery) and tw...

BACKGROUND Maternal morbidity and mortality among HIV-infected women is a global concern. This study compared mortality and health outcomes of HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected mothers at 18-20 months postpartum within routine prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) services in a rural district in Malawi. METHODS A retrospective cohort study of mother-child dyads at 18-20 mont...