Child Saving and Child Spacing in Africa: The Evolution of a Concept

1973 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 765-768
Author(s):  
Robert D. Wright
Keyword(s):  
Family Planning ◽  
Child Health ◽  
Maternal And Child Health ◽  
Child Death ◽  
Child Health Services ◽  
Tropical Africa ◽  
Low Visibility ◽  
Child Spacing ◽  
High Level ◽  
And Child Health

In tropical Africa the primordial presence of enormous young child death rates precludes a successful frontal attack on birth rates through specialized programs. Experience in Nigeria indicates that gradual, quiet pressure can influence the power structure to tolerate and eventually espouse child spacing as an integral part of a program of services for child saving. The approach involves four phases: a low visibility start; obtaining high level acceptance; establishment of a federal training center to train cadres for state training programs; and deployment of trained primary care auxiliaries as a local maternal and child health-family planning service. In tropical Africa governmental attitudes toward family planning range from positive policy, to neutrality, to strong opposition. At present most Anglophone countries are favorable. Most Francophone countries are opposed. The general trend is toward a more favorable attitude toward family planning when it is a part of maternal and child health services.

scholarly journals Knowledge and Practice of Contraceptive Among Lactating Mothers Attending at Radda Maternal and Child Health and Family Planning Centre at Mirpur, Dhaka

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 40-46
Author(s):  
Mohammad Taslim Uddin ◽  
Shaibal Barua
Keyword(s):  
Family Planning ◽  
Child Health ◽  
Breast Feeding ◽  
Maternal And Child Health ◽  
Post Partum ◽  
Contraceptive Methods ◽  
Lactating Mothers ◽  
Child Spacing ◽  
Knowledge And Practice ◽  
And Child Health

Background: As a natural child-spacing method breast feeding is very effective during the early post partum period. In Bangladesh it is believed that conception occurs very rarely during post partum and lactation period. Mothers nurse their children for long period, believing this is an easy, practical and natural method to delay or prevent a subsequent pregnancy. Since child-spacing effect of breast feeding gradually diminishes over time depending on personal and social circumstances breast feeding women during lactation need contraceptive methods which must be effective and safe and must not affect lactation. Methods: A descriptive type of cross sectional study was carried out, from July 2012 to December 2012, among 110 lactating mothers at RADDA Maternal and Child Health (MCH) and Family planning Centre, Mirpur, Dhaka with the objective of assessing their knowledge and practice on contraceptive methods. Results: Out of 110 respondents, 92 respondents having 1-2 children (83.64%) 79.35% were practicing contraception and 20.5% were not practicing any method and rest of 18 respondents having >2 children (16.36%), 77.78% were practicing contraception and 22.22% were not practicing contraception. Of the 91 respondents having children 1-2, 75.4% had average and above average knowledge and the rest 8.1% had below average knowledge on contraceptive methods. Of the 19 respondents having >2 children, 16.3% had average and above average knowledge and the rest (0.2%) had below average knowledge on contraceptive methods. The difference between the two groups in respect of practice and knowledge of contraception were found statistically insignificant. Conclusion: The study shows significant relation between the knowledge and practice of contraceptive with number of the children. There is significant difference between the knowledge among primary and secondary educated mothers and the practice of contraception varied with their education levels. All the respondents had knowledge about contraceptive methods but 20.9% were not practicing any methods due to various reasons. Chatt Maa Shi Hosp Med Coll J; Vol.17 (2); Jul 2018; Page 40-46

scholarly journals Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Utilization of Facility-Based Essential Maternal and Child Health Services in North Shewa Zone, Ethiopia

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chalachew Bekele ◽  
Delayehu Bekele ◽  
Bezawit Hunegnaw ◽  
Kimiko Van Wickle ◽  
Fanos Ashenafi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Family Planning ◽  
Child Health ◽  
Service Utilization ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Maternal And Child Health ◽  
Child Health Services ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
New Family ◽  
And Child Health

Introduction: Ethiopia registered its first case of COVID-19 on March 13, 2020. We aimed to assess maternal, newborn, and child health care (MNCH) utilization during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as potential barriers and enablers of service utilization from health care providers and clients. Methods: Mixed study design was conducted as part of the Birhan Health and Demographic Surveillance System in Ethiopia. The trend of service utilization during the first six months of COVID-19 was compared to corresponding time and data points of the preceding year. Result: Service utilization of new family planning visits (43.2 to 28.5/month, p = 0.014) and sick under five child visits (225.0 to 139.8/month, P = 007) declined during the initial six months of the pandemic compared to the same period in the preceding year. Antenatal and postnatal care visits, facility delivery rates, and child routine immunization visits also decreased although this did not reach statistical significance. Interviews with health care providers and clients highlighted several barriers to service utilization during COVID-19, including fear of disease transmission, economic hardship, and transport service disruptions and restrictions. Enablers of service utilization included communities' decreased fear of COVID-19, and awareness-raising activities. Conclusion: Provision of essential MNCH services is crucial to ascertain favorable maternal and child health outcomes. In low- and middle-income country settings like Ethiopia, health systems might be fragile to withstand the caseloads and priority setting due to the pandemic. Our study presents early findings on the utilization of MNCH services that were maintained except sick child and new family planning visits. Government leaders, policy makers, and clinicians who wish to improve the resilience of their health system will need to continuously monitor service utilization and clients' evolving concerns during the pandemic to prevent increases in maternal and child morbidity and mortality.

scholarly journals Residual Barriers for Utilization of Maternal and Child Health Services: Community Perceptions From Rural Pakistan

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zahid Memon ◽  
Shehla Zaidi ◽  
Atif Riaz
Keyword(s):  
Family Planning ◽  
Child Health ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Community Health Workers ◽  
Maternal And Child Health ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Functional Health ◽  
Child Health Services ◽  
And Child Health

<p>Low utilization of maternal and child care services in rural areas has constrained Pakistan from meeting targets of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5. This study explores community barriers in accessing Maternal and Child Health (MCH) services in ten remote rural districts of Pakistan. It further presents how the barriers differ across a range of MCH services, and also whether the presence of Community Health Workers (CHWs) reduces client barriers. Qualitative methods were used involving altogether sixty focus group discussions with mothers, their spouses and community health workers. Low awareness, formidable distances, expense, and poorly functional services were the main barriers reported, while cultural and religious restrictions were lesser reported. For preventive services including antenatal care (ANC), facility deliveries, postnatal care (PNC), childhood immunization and family planning, the main barrier was low awareness. Conversely, formidable distances and poorly functional services were the main reported constraints in the event of maternal complications and acute child illnesses. The study also found that clients residing in areas served by CHWs had better awareness only of ANC and family planning, while other MCH services were overlooked by the health worker program. The paper highlights that traditional policy emphasis on health facility infrastructure expansion is not likely to address poor utilization rates in remote rural areas. Preventive MCH services require concerted attention to building community awareness, task shifting from facility to community for services provision, and re-energization of CHW program. For maternal and child emergencies there is strong community demand to utilize health facilities, but this will require catalytic support for transport networks and functional health care centers.</p>

scholarly journals Effect of Integrating Maternal and Child Health Services, Nutrition and Family Planning Services on Postpartum Family Planning Uptake at 6 Months Post-partum in Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire and Niger: Protocol of a Longitudinal Quasi-experimental Study

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
DENISE KPEBO ◽  
Abou Coulibaly ◽  
Maurice Yameogo ◽  
Sujata Bijou ◽  
Lazoumar Ramatoulaye ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Family Planning ◽  
Child Health ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Maternal And Child Health ◽  
Post Partum ◽  
Child Health Services ◽  
Family Planning Services ◽  
Services Integration ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
And Child Health

Abstract Background : Although several interventions integrating maternal, neonatal, child health and nutrition with family planning have been implemented and tested, there is still limited evidence on their effectiveness to guide program efforts and policy action,on health services integration. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of a service delivery model integrating maternal and child health services, nutrition and family planning services, compared with the general standard of care in Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, and Niger. Methods: This is a quasi experimental study with one intervention group and one control group of 3-4 health facilities in each country. Each facility was matched to a control facility of the same level of care and that had similar coverage on selected reproductive health indicators such as family planning and post-partum family planning. The study participants are pregnant women (with a 6 months pregnancy at maximum) coming for their first antenatal care visit. They will be followed up to 6 months after childbirth, and will be interviewed at each antenatal visit and also during visits for infant vaccines.The analyzes will be carried out by intention to treat, using generalized linear models (binomial log or log Poisson) to assess the effect of the intervention on the ratio of contraceptive use prevalence between the two groups of the study at a significance level of 5%, while taking into account the cluster effect and adjusting for potential confounding factors (socio-demographic characteristics of women, unevenly distributed at inclusion). Discussion :This longitudinal study, with the provision of family planning services integrated into the whole maternal care continuum, a sufficiently long observation time and repeated measurements, will make it possible to better appreciate the timeline and the factors influencing women's decision-making on the use of post-partum family planning services. The results will help in increasing the body of knowledge regarding the impact of maternal and child health services integration on the utilization of post-partum family planning, taking into account the specific context of sub-Saharan Africa French speaking countries where such information is very needed.

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