Research Priorities for the Reduction of Perinatal and Neonatal Morbidity and Mortality in Developing Country Communities

PURPOSE: This exploratory project aimed to provide an up-to-date list of global midwifery research priorities to inform the International Confederation of Midwives’ (ICM) research strategy for development of its research agenda.DESIGN: An online survey conducted in 2014 asked ICM Research Advisory Networking members (who then disseminated it to a wider midwifery research interest group) to grade the importance of research priorities and provide further suggestions. Research priorities listed were based on those identified in previous scoping exercises and a recent literature review.FINDINGS: Two hundred seventy-one respondents from 37 countries completed the questionnaire including midwifery practitioners, researchers, lecturers, and service providers. Promotion of normal birth, prevention of maternal and fetal/neonatal morbidity and mortality, and psychosocial aspects of maternity care were identified by the respondents as the top three important themes. Subanalysis by country, region, and continent found promotion of normal birth the greatest priority in more resourced regions, whereas prevention of maternal and fetal/neonatal morbidity and mortality was the most important research priority in less resourced locations.CONCLUSION: This study provides a systematic global mapping of research priorities from midwives’ perspectives which will inform the ICM research agenda. Geographical variation in key research priorities reflect midwives working in very different settings with specific local health and resource related challenges such as staff shortages, human immunodeficiency virus, or obesity. Future research should aim to address these priorities to improve maternal and infant health. Limited number of respondents from some geographical areas should be borne in mind when interpreting the global implications and further research with an optimized scoping for inclusion is required to ensure adequate representativeness from all countries.

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Faculty Opinions recommendation of Vaginal progesterone decreases preterm birth and neonatal morbidity and mortality in women with a twin gestation and a short cervix: an updated meta-analysis of individual patient data.

Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature ◽

10.3410/f.727188470.793534026 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Jeff Keelan

Keyword(s):

Preterm Birth ◽

Individual Patient Data ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Neonatal Morbidity ◽

Patient Data ◽

Morbidity And Mortality ◽

Short Cervix ◽

Vaginal Progesterone

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Racial and Economic Neighborhood Segregation, Site of Delivery, and Very Preterm Neonatal Morbidity and Mortality

The Journal of Pediatrics ◽

10.1016/j.jpeds.2021.03.049 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Teresa Janevic ◽

Jennifer Zeitlin ◽

Natalia N. Egorova ◽

Paul Hebert ◽

Amy Balbierz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Neonatal Morbidity ◽

Morbidity And Mortality ◽

Very Preterm ◽

Neighborhood Segregation

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Quality of Antenatal, Labour and Delivery Services in Selected Districts in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe: A Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study

10.52916/jogs214011 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-9

Author(s):

Clara Opha Haruzivishe

Keyword(s):

Perinatal Care ◽

Neonatal Morbidity ◽

Health Facilities ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Morbidity And Mortality ◽

World Health ◽

Performance Standard ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Care Services

Background: High Maternal and Neonatal Mortality Ratios persist in Sub-Saharan Africa despite increasing perinatal care coverage. This suggests that coverage alone is not adequate to reduce maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. Quality of care should be the emphasis of maternal and child care services. Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional multicentre study was conducted in selected health facilities in Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe using purposive sampling. A World Health Organization-WHO 2016 Quality of Maternal and New-born assessment Framework and the WHO (2015) Service Availability and Readiness Assessment tool were used for data collection. Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Scientist (SPSS) version 24.0. Results: Less than 43% of the health facilities satisfied at least three of the five Performance Standards of availability and adequacy of Antenatal infrastructure and supplies. Regarding Antenatal processes/care, an observation was the most common performance standard satisfied by 70.6% of all health facilities assessed while less than 30% fulfilled all other standards. Only 57.1% of the health facilities satisfied 5 of the 11 standards for labour and delivery infrastructure, while only 55.6% of the Health facilities satisfied only two of the 13 standards of Labour and delivery care. Conclusion: To achieve a significant and sustainable reduction in maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality, there is a need for investment and improvement in maternity care services infrastructure and processes as opposed to focusing on mere attendance of Antenatal, and deliveries by trained birth attendants.

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