background a number of developing countries have contracted out public health facilities to the non-government organizations (ngos) in order to improve service utilization. however, there is a paucity of in-depth qualitative information on barriers to access services as a result of contracting from service users’ perspective. the objective of this study was to explore perceived barriers to util...

BACKGROUND Fragile and conflict-affected situations (FCS) in Asia and the Middle-East contribute significantly to global maternal and neonatal deaths. This systematic review explored maternal and neonatal health (MNH) services usage and determinants in FCS in Asia and the Middle-East to inform policy on health service provision in these challenging settings. METHODS This systematic review was...

OBJECTIVE This study assessed the correlation between compliance with set performance standards and maternal and neonatal deaths in health facilities. DESIGN Baseline and three annual follow-up assessments were conducted, and each was followed by a quality improvement initiative using the Standards Based Management and Recognition (SBM-R) approach. SETTING Twenty-three secondary health faci...

Higher use of maternal and neonatal health (MNH) services may reduce maternal and neonatal mortality in Kenya. This study aims to: 1) prospectively explore women's intentions to use MNH services (antenatal care, delivery in a facility, postnatal care, neonatal care) at <20 and 30-35 weeks' gestation and their actual use of these services; 2) identify predictors of intention-behavior discordance...

BACKGROUND A variety of clinical process indicators exists to measure the quality of care provided by maternal and neonatal health (MNH) programs. To allow comparison across MNH programs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), a core set of essential process indicators is needed. Although such a core set is available for emergency obstetric care (EmOC), the 'EmOC signal functions', a simil...

BACKGROUND As part of the mid-term evaluation of a Women's Health Care Project, a study was conducted to compare the utilization of maternal and neonatal health (MNH) services in two areas with different levels of service in Punjab, Pakistan. METHODS A cross-sectional survey was conducted to interview Married Women of Reproductive Age (MWRA). Information was collected on MWRA knowledge regard...

Due to the multiple pathways through which poor access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) may adversely impact maternal and newborn health (MNH) outcomes [2], the time to act has arrived. This briefing paper documents the state of the evidence on WASH and MNH and the Sanitation and Hygiene Applied Research for Equity (SHARE) Consortium’s contribution to our understanding, highlights opport...

This correspondence argues and offers recommendations for how Geographic Information System (GIS) applied to maternal and newborn health data could potentially be used as part of the broader efforts for ending preventable maternal and newborn mortality. These recommendations were generated from a technical consultation on reporting and mapping maternal deaths that was held in Washington, DC fro...

BACKGROUND South Asia is experiencing a dismal state of maternal and newborn health (MNH) as the region has been falling behind in reducing the levels of maternal and neonatal mortality. Most of the efforts are focused on enhancing coverage of MNH services; however, quality remains a serious concern if the region is to achieve expected outcomes in terms of standardised MNH services within healt...