scholarly journals Availability of emergency obstetric and newborn care services at public health facilities of Sindh province in Pakistan

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramesh Kumar ◽  
Jamil Ahmed ◽  
Fozia Anwar ◽  
Ratana Somrongthong

Abstract Background Basic and comprehensive emergency obstetric care services in Pakistan remain a challenge considering continued high burden of maternal and newborn mortality. This study aimed to assess the availability of emergency obstetric and newborn care in Sindh Province of Pakistan. Methods This cross-sectional survey was conducted in twelve districts of the Sindh province in Pakistan. The districts were selected based on the maternal neonatal and child health indicators. Data were collected from 63 public-sector health facilities including district, Taluka (subdistrict) headquarters hospitals and rural health centers. Basic and comprehensive emergency obstetric newborn care services were assessed through direct observations and interviews with the heads of the health facilities by using a World Health Organization pretested and validated data collection tool. Participants interviewed in this study included the managers and auxiliary staff and in health facilities. Results Availability of caesarean section (23, 95% C.I. 14.0–35.0) and blood transfusion services (57, 95% CI. 44.0–68.0), the two components of comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care, was poor in our study. However, assessment of the seven components of basic emergency obstetric and newborn services showed that 92% of the health facilities (95% C.I. 88.0–96.0) had parenteral antibiotics, 90%, (95% C.I. 80.0–95.0) had oxytocin, 92% (95% CI 88.0–96.0) had manual removal of the placenta service, 87% (95%, C.I. 76.0–93.0) of the facilities had staff who could remove retained products of conception, 82% (95% C.I. 71.0–89.0) had facilities for normal birth and 80% (95% C.I. 69.0–88.0) reported presence of neonatal resuscitation service. Conclusion Though the basic obstetric and newborn services were reasonably available, comprehensive obstetric and newborn services were not available as per the World Health Organization’s standards in the surveyed public health facilities. Ensuring the availability of caesarean section and blood transfusion services within these facilities may improve population’s access to these essential services around birth.

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. e030496
Author(s):  
Faridullah Atiqzai ◽  
Partamin Manalai ◽  
Sher Shah Amin ◽  
Karen M Edmond ◽  
Malalai Naziri ◽  
...  

ObjectiveTo assess readiness and quality of essential newborn care and neonatal resuscitation practices in public health facilities in Afghanistan.DesignCross-sectional assessment.Setting226 public health facilities in Afghanistan, including 77 public health facilities with at least five births per day (high-volume facilities) and 149 of 1736 public health facilities with fewer than five births per day (low-volume facilities).ParticipantsManagers of 226 public health facilities, 734 skilled birth attendants (SBAs) working at these facilities, and 643 women and their newborns observed during childbirth at 77 high-volume health facilities.Outcome measuresAvailability of knowledgeable SBAs, availability of supplies and compliance with global guidelines for essential newborn care and neonatal resuscitation practices.ResultsAt high-volume facilities, 569/636 (87.9%) of babies were dried immediately after birth, 313/636 (49.2%) were placed in skin-to-skin contact with their mother and 581/636 (89.7%) had their umbilical cord cut with a sterile blade or scissors. A total of 87 newborn resuscitation attempts were observed. Twenty-four of the 87 (27.5%) began to breath or cry after simply clearing the airway or on stimulation. In the remaining 63 (72.5%) cases, a healthcare worker began resuscitation with a bag and mask; however, only 54 (62%) used a correct size of mask and three babies died as their resuscitation with bag and mask was unsuccessful.ConclusionsThe study indicates room for improvement of the quality of neonatal resuscitation practices at public health facilities in Afghanistan, requiring only strengthening of the current best practices in newborn care. Certain basic and effective aspects of essential newborn care that can be improved on with little additional resources were also missing, such as skin-to-skin contact of the babies with their mother. Improvement of compliance with the standard newborn care practices must be ensured to reduce preventable newborn mortality and morbidity in Afghanistan.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Farzana Maruf ◽  
Hannah Tappis ◽  
Enriquito Lu ◽  
Ghutai Sadeq Yaqubi ◽  
Jelle Stekelenburg ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Afghanistan has one of the highest burdens of maternal mortality in the world, estimated at 638 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2017. Infections, obstetric hemorrhage, and unsafe abortion are the three leading causes of maternal death. Contraceptive prevalence rate has fluctuated between 10 and 20% since 2006. The 2016 Afghanistan National Maternal and Newborn Health Quality of Care Assessment evaluated facility readiness to provide quality routine and emergency obstetric and newborn care, including postabortion care services. Methods Accessible public health facilities with at least five births per day (n = 77), a nationally representative sample of public health facilities with fewer than five births per day (n = 149), and 20 purposively selected private health facilities were assessed. Assessment components examining postabortion care included a facility inventory and record review tool to verify drug, supply, equipment, and facility record availability, and an interview tool to collect information on skilled birth attendants’ knowledge and perceptions. Results Most facilities had supplies, equipment, and drugs to manage postabortion care, including family planning counseling and services provision. At public facilities, 36% of skilled birth attendants asked to name essential actions to address abortion complications mentioned manual vacuum aspiration (23% at private facilities); fewer than one-quarter mentioned counseling. When asked what information should be given to postabortion clients, 73% described family planning counseling need (70% at private facilities). Nearly all high-volume public health facilities with an average of five or more births per day and less than 5% of low volume public health facilities with an average of 0–4 deliveries per day reported removal of retained products of conception in the past 3 months. Among the 77 high volume facilities assessed, 58 (75%) reported using misoprostol for removal of retained products of conception, 59 (77%) reported using manual vacuum aspiration, and 67 (87%) reported using dilation and curettage. Conclusions This study provides evidence that there is room for improvement in postabortion care services provision in Afghanistan health facilities including post abortion family planning. Access to high-quality postabortion care needs additional investments to improve providers’ knowledge and practice, availability of supplies and equipment.


2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 24251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Waiswa ◽  
Joseph Akuze ◽  
Stefan Peterson ◽  
Kate Kerber ◽  
Moses Tetui ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jude Thaddeus Ssensamba ◽  
Moses Mukuru ◽  
Mary Nakafeero ◽  
Ronald Ssenyonga ◽  
Suzanne N. Kiwanuka

Abstract Background As ageing emerges as the next public health threat in Africa, there is a paucity of information on how prepared its health systems are to provide geriatric friendly care services. In this study, we explored the readiness of Uganda’s public health system to offer geriatric friendly care services in Southern Central Uganda. Methods Four districts with the highest proportion of old persons in Southern Central Uganda were purposively selected, and a cross-section of 18 randomly selected health facilities (HFs) were visited and assessed for availability of critical items deemed important for provision of geriatric friendly services; as derived from World Health Organization’s Age-friendly primary health care centres toolkit. Data was collected using an adapted health facility geriatric assessment tool, entered into Epi-data software and analysed using STATA version 14. Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn’s post hoc tests were conducted to determine any associations between readiness, health facility level, and district. Results The overall readiness index was 16.92 (SD ±4.19) (range 10.8–26.6). This differed across districts; Lwengo 17.91 (SD ±3.15), Rakai 17.63 (SD ±4.55), Bukomansimbi 16.51 (SD ±7.18), Kalungu 13.74 (SD ±2.56) and facility levels; Hospitals 26.62, Health centers four (HCIV) 20.05 and Health centers three (HCIII) 14.80. Low readiness was due to poor scores concerning; leadership (0%), financing (0%), human resources (1.7%) and health management information systems (HMIS) (11.8%) WHO building blocks. Higher-level HFs were statistically significantly friendlier than lower-level HFs (p = 0.015). The difference in readiness between HCIIIs and HCIVs was 2.39 (p = 0.025). Conclusion There is a low readiness for public health facilities to provide geriatric friendly care services in Uganda. This is due to gaps in all of the health system building blocks. There is a need for health system reforms in Uganda to adequately cater for service provision for older adults if the 2020 global healthy ageing goal is to be met.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Taposh Kumar Biswas ◽  
Hasnat Sujon ◽  
M. Hafizur Rahman ◽  
Henry B. Perry ◽  
Mahbub Elahi Chowdhury

Abstract Background Healthcare service delivery systems need to ensure standard quality of care (QoC) for achieving expected health outcomes. Although Bangladesh has a good healthcare service delivery system, there are major concerns about the quality of maternal and newborn health (MNH) care services, which is imperative for achievements in health. The study aimed to measure the QoC for different MNH services in two selected public health facilities of Bangladesh. This study also documented the specific areas of each care which needs intervention. Methods The study was conducted in two district-level public health facilities—a district hospital (DH) and a mother and child welfare centre (MCWC). A total of 228 cases of MNH services were observed by using contextualized checklist ‘Standards-based Management and Recognition (S-BMR)’ for 8 selected MNH care services. For scoring, performed activities were calculated as percentages of the total recommended activities and categorized as high (> 80%), moderate (50 to 80%), and low (< 50%). Results Overall QoC scores were moderate for each DH (54.8%), and MCWC (56.1%). In DH, the QoC score was high for blood transfusion (80.3%); moderate for maternal complications management (77.0%), caesarean section (CS) (65.6%), infection prevention (64.3%), sick newborn care (54.1%), and normal vaginal delivery (NVD) (52.6%); and low for antenatal care (ANC) (25.6%) and postnatal care (PNC) (19.0%). In MCWC, the QoC scores were high for infection prevention (83.0%); moderate for CS (76.5%) and NVD (59.8%); and low for ANC (36.9%) and PNC (24.5%). Conclusions In the study facilities, the QoC for MNH services is found to be unsatisfactory, particularly for ANC and PNC. Urgent initiative needs to be taken by introducing contextualized quality monitoring tools at health facilities, along with training of the care providers and introducing a quality monitoring system.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jude Thaddeus Ssensamba ◽  
Moses Mukuru ◽  
Mary Nakafeero ◽  
Ronald Ssenyonga ◽  
Suzanne N Kiwanuka

Abstract Background As ageing emerges as the next public health threat in Africa, there is a paucity of information on how prepared its health systems are to provide geriatric friendly care services. In this study, we explored the readiness of Uganda’s public health system to provide geriatric friendly care services in Southern Central Uganda. Methods Four districts with the highest proportion of old persons in Southern Central Uganda were purposively selected, and a cross section of 18 randomly selected health facilities (HFs) were visited and assessed for availability of key items deemed important for provision of geriatric friendly services; as derived from World Health Organization’s Age-friendly primary health care centres toolkit. Data was collected using an adapted health facility geriatric assessment tool, entered into Epi-data software and analysed using STATA version 14. Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn’s post hoc tests were conducted to determine any associations between readiness, health facility level and district. Results The overall readiness index was 16.92 (SD ±4.19) (range 10.8 - 26.6). This differed across districts; Lwengo 17.91 (SD ±3.15), Rakai 17.63 (SD ±4.55), Bukomansimbi 16.51 (SD ±7.18), Kalungu 13.74 (SD ±2.56) and facility levels; Hospitals 26.62, Health centers four (HCIV) 20.05 and Health centers three (HCIII) 14.80. Low readiness was due to poor scores with regard to; leadership (0%), financing (0%), human resources (1.7%) and health management information systems (HMIS) (11.8%) WHO building blocks. Higher level HFs were statistically significantly friendlier than lower level HFs (p= 0.015). The difference in readiness between HCIIIs and HCIVs was 2.39 (p=0.025). Conclusion There is low readiness of public health facilities to provide geriatric friendly care services in Uganda. This is due to gaps in all of the health system building blocks. There is a need for health system reforms in Uganda to adequately cater for service provision for old people if the 2020 global healthy ageing goal is to be met.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 167-175
Author(s):  
Mwari P.S ◽  
Gitonga LK ◽  
Mukhwana E.S

The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended Partograph as a labor management tool due to its impact in reducing obstetric labor complications and maternal deaths over the years. This labor management tool is inexpensive and appropriate for use in low-resource settings, particularly in developing countries. Despite the fact that many African countries, including Ethiopia, Kenya, and Nigeria, have adopted the Partograph in labor management, there is little information on midwives' knowledge on the use of the tool in labor management. Understanding of how to use a Partograph is essential for reducing complications and maternal deaths. The purpose of this study was to determine midwives' knowledge on using the Partograph in labor management. The study adopted a cross sectional survey design. 45 midwives were randomly selected from 16 public health facilities in Tharaka Nithi County. Questionnaires were used to collect data. Focused Group Discussions were also conducted with 77 postnatal mothers who gave birth in the 16 health facilities. The collected data was analyzed using descriptive statistics (means, frequencies, and percentages) and Chi-Square tests. Thematic analysis was used to examine qualitative data. Results showed that 74% of midwives had used Partograph in labor monitoring, while 26% had never used the tool. 60% of the midwives had received Partograph training. Despite not having been trained, some midwives were using the Partograph. Findings revealed inconsistencies in the use of Partograph in labor management. A large proportion of midwives deviated from the WHO's recommended use of Partograph in the first stage of labor. The study recommended that the Tharaka Nithi County government, through the Ministry of Health, invest in Partograph utilization in-service training programs to provide nurses and midwives working in the maternity wing the necessary knowledge and skills for proper Partograph utilization. There is also a need for policy changes in institutions to ensure that nurses use of the Partograph as a strategy for reducing maternal mortality rates, improving motherhood, and labor management in the County. Key words: Partograph; labour management; public health facilities.


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