scholarly journals Including the Excluded in Antenatal Care: A Systematic Review of Concerns for D/deaf Pregnant Women

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 67
Author(s):  
Olufemi Timothy Adigun ◽  
Olugbenga Akinrinoye ◽  
Helen Ngozichukwuka Obilor

This paper presents global evidence derived from a systematic review of the literature on the issues of D/deaf pregnant women and antenatal care. A comprehensive search through four bibliographic databases identified a dataset of 10,375 academic papers, from which six papers met the inclusion criteria for in-depth analysis related to D/deaf pregnant women’s use of antenatal care/clinics. Findings from the analysis revealed four major concerns for D/deaf pregnant women who attended antenatal clinics for care. These concerns were communication difficulties, satisfaction with antenatal care services, attendance at antenatal clinics, and associated health outcomes. Based on the identified issues and concerns, it is recommended that pre- and in-service healthcare workers should be trained on how to communicate through sign language with their D/deaf patients. In addition, there is a need to rapidly expand the body of knowledge on the issues concerning antenatal care for D/deaf pregnant women vis-à-vis their relationship with healthcare workers in antenatal facilities.

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
S van Pelt ◽  
K Massar ◽  
L van der Eem ◽  
M van der Pijl ◽  
L Shields-Zeeman ◽  
...  

Abstract Background To reduce maternal mortality in rural Tanzania, the need to improve antenatal care remains an urgent priority. Digital health tools are seen as a promising instrument to increase the quality of healthcare in developing countries, but it remains unclear to what extent they are perceived as beneficial during the antenatal care visit. Therefore, the aim of this research was to identify factors that could improve the quality of antenatal care in rural Tanzania, and whether digital health tools would change healthcare workers' and pregnant women's perceptions of quality of care. Methods Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with sixteen healthcare workers and nineteen pregnant women, recruited from various health facilities in Magu District, Tanzania. Results Both healthcare workers and pregnant women possess a positive attitude towards antenatal care and acknowledge its importance. However, they also expressed a need for (structural) improvements in antenatal care services, particularly increased availability of diagnostic tests, and increased performance and motivation of healthcare workers. In addition, healthcare workers indicated a need for more training and better supervision. While both groups expected quality of care to increase should a digital health tool be implemented, they placed more focus on investing in health infrastructure, like the availability of medication and other materials, than investments in digital health. Conclusions Infrastructural improvements, including better communication between healthcare workers and pregnant women, as well as training opportunities and supportive leadership, are necessary before a digital health tool can be expected to increase the quality of antenatal care. Key messages Both healthcare workers and pregnant women acknowledged the need for higher quality antenatal care. Both groups suggested a number of infrastructural improvements, among which the use of a digital health tool.


2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Angeline Jeyakumar ◽  
Vidhya Shinde ◽  
Reshma Ravindran

Abstract Background Vitamin D deficiency among pregnant women is a public health concern globally. In India, individual studies report high prevalence. However, lack of national data masks the true burden. This work determined the pooled prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among pregnant women in India through a systematic review of literature and meta-analysis. Methods Three different search engines yielded 15 eligible articles. Study quality was assessed by 10 different criteria and summary of study quality was categorized as per Cochrane standards. Meta-analysis was performed to estimate pooled prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among healthy pregnant women and heterogeneity among selected studies. A sample of n = 4088 was used to study the pooled prevalence among pregnant women. Results The random effects combined estimate was 32.35% (95% CI, (12.58–117.48). High heterogeneity (tau2 = 0.39, I2 = 100%) and high risk of bias was observed among the selected studies. The test for overall effect was observed to be z = 2.54(P = 0.01). Conclusion Pooled estimate > 30% emphasizes the need for screening through antenatal care services and initiate preventive measures to address the deficiency.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alemu Degu Ayele ◽  
Habtamu Gebrehana Belay ◽  
Bekalu Getnet Kassa ◽  
Mulugeta Dile Worke

Abstract Background Preconception care is the provision of biomedical, behavioural, and social health interventions provided to women and couples before conception. However, in Ethiopia, little is known and practised to support preconception care. Therefore, this study aimed to assess women’s knowledge and utilisation of preconception care and its associated factors in Ethiopia using systematic review and meta-analysis. Method In the current meta-analysis, variables were searched from different electronic database systems, which included PubMed, Google Scholar, EMBASE, HINAR, Scopus, Web of Sciences, and Grey literature. Data were extracted using a standardised data collection measurement tool. The data were analysed by using STATA 14 statistical software. I2 tests assessed heterogeneity between the studies. A random-effect model was used to forecast the pooled knowledge and utilisation of preconception care. Results Thirteen full-text studies were included. The pooled prevalence of knowledge and utilisation of preconception care among women in Ethiopia was 30.95% and 16.27% respectivelly. Secondary education (OR = 2.78, 95% CI,2.01–3.85), college and above (OR = 5.05, 95% CI,2.70–9.44), and antenatal care (OR = 3.89, 95% CI, 1.69–8.98) were significantly associated with knowledge level whereas; age (OR = 2.43, 95% CI, 1.30–4.53) and knowledge on preconception care (OR = 3.95, 95% CI,2.35–6.62) were positively associated with utilisation of preconception. Conclusions Women’s level of knowledge and utilisation of preconception care was significantly low. Educational status and antenatal care follow-up were factors shown to affect knowledge of preconception care. Age and having a sound knowledge of preconception care indicated a significant association towards utilisation of preconception care. Thus, integrating preconception care strategies and policies that can address all the components of preconception care services with other maternal and child health services will be essential when designing effective implementation strategies to improve preconception care uptake. Besides this, advocating for better education for women, awareness creation, and increasing antenatal care services are essential. Prospero registration: CRD42020218062


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zahra Sharifiheris ◽  
Juho Laitala ◽  
Antti Airola ◽  
Amir M Rahmani ◽  
Miriam Bender

BACKGROUND Preterm birth (PTB) as a common pregnancy complication is responsible for 35% of the 3.1 million pregnancy-related deaths each year and significantly impacts around 15 million children annually across the world. Conventional approaches to predict PTB may neither be applicable for first-time mothers nor possess reliable predictive power. Recently, machine learning (ML) models have shown the potential as an appropriate complementary approach for PTB prediction. OBJECTIVE In this article we systematically reviewed the literature concerned with PTB prediction using ML modeling. METHODS This systematic review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA statement. A comprehensive search was performed in seven bibliographic databases up until 15 May 2021. The quality of studies was assessed, and the descriptive information including socio-demographic characteristics, ML modeling processes, and model performance were extracted and reported. RESULTS A total of 732 papers were screened through title and abstract. Of these, 23 studies were screened by full text resulting in 13 papers that met the inclusion criteria. CONCLUSIONS We identified various ML models used for different EHR data resulting in a desirable performance for PTB prediction. However, evaluation metrics, software/package used, data size and type, and selected features, and importantly data management method often varied from study to study threatening the reliability and generalizability of the model. CLINICALTRIAL n.a.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 569-575
Author(s):  
Lucia Drigo ◽  
Masane Luvhengo ◽  
Rachel T. Lebese ◽  
Lufuno Makhado

Background: Pregnant woman’s personal experience of antenatal care services can either be positive or negative; however, knowledge and experience appear to be of paramount importance in shaping their attitudes towards any healthcare-related services. This implies that women's experience of antenatal care services may affect their decision for seeking antenatal care in their present pregnancy, which can lead them to delay seeking care. Purpose: This study sought to explore the attitudes of pregnant women towards antenatal care services provided in primary health care facilities of Mbombela Municipality, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. Methods: A qualitative exploratory descriptive study design was used for this study. Purposive sampling technique was used to sample pregnant women who fail to attend antenatal services as expected. Data were collected through face to face unstructured in-depth interview. A total of eighteen pregnant women participated in the study until data saturation. Data were analysed using Tech’s method of analysis. Results: Results revealed the following theme and sub-themes: Attitudes of pregnant women related to individual perceptions, perceived barriers to utilizing antenatal care services,’ attitudes of healthcare providers, long waiting times in healthcare facilities, lack privacy and confidentiality in healthcare facilities and attitudes of pregnant women related to attendance of antenatal services. Conclusion: Attitudes of pregnant women about antenatal care are shaped by their knowledge and previous encounters with the health care services that they had previously received. It is therefore important to provide women-friendly services. It is recommended that health education regarding the importance of antenatal care services must be given to all women daily in the waiting areas of each primary health care facilities, thus, the healthcare providers should promote the active participation of pregnant women during the health education sessions and provide opportunities to ask questions.


BMJ Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. e018132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmen Phang Romero Casas ◽  
Marrissa Martyn-St James ◽  
Jean Hamilton ◽  
Daniel S Marinho ◽  
Rodolfo Castro ◽  
...  

ObjectivesTo undertake a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the test performance including sensitivity and specificity of rapid immunochromatographic syphilis (ICS) point-of-care (POC) tests at antenatal clinics compared with reference standard tests (non-treponemal (TP) and TP tests) for active syphilis in pregnant women.MethodsFive electronic databases were searched (PubMed, EMBASE, CRD, Cochrane Library and LILACS) to March 2016 for diagnostic accuracy studies of ICS test and standard reference tests for syphilis in pregnant women. Methodological quality was assessed using QUADAS-2 (Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies). A bivariate meta-analysis was undertaken to generate pooled estimates of diagnostic parameters. Results were presented using a coupled forest plot of sensitivity and specificity and a scatter plot.ResultsThe methodological quality of the five included studies with regards to risk of bias and applicability concern judgements was either low or unclear. One study was judged as high risk of bias for patient selection due to exclusion of pregnant women with a previous history of syphilis, and one study was judged at high risk of bias for study flow and timing as not all patients were included in the analysis. Five studies contributed to the meta-analysis, providing a pooled sensitivity and specificity for ICS of 0.85 (95% CrI: 0.73 to 0.92) and 0.98 (95% CrI: 0.95 to 0.99), respectively.ConclusionsThis review and meta-analysis observed that rapid ICS POC tests have a high sensitivity and specificity when performed in pregnant women at antenatal clinics. However, the methodological quality of the existing evidence base should be taken into consideration when interpreting these results.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42016036335.


Author(s):  
Nyasiro S Gibore ◽  
Agatha F Ngowi ◽  
Mariam J Munyogwa ◽  
Mwanaisha M Ali

Abstract Background Anemia is a major cause of morbidity and mortality of pregnant women and increases the risks of fetal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. Approximately 50% of all anemia is estimated to be caused by low dietary intake of iron, poor absorption of dietary iron, or blood loss. The objective of the present study was to determine the prevalence and assess the dietary habits associated with anemia among pregnant women receiving antenatal care in Unguja Island, Tanzania. A cross-sectional study was conducted to select 338 pregnant women at Kivunge, Mwembeladu and Mnazimmoja hospitals from March to June, 2018. Hemoglobin concentration was measured using a HemoCue photometer on capillary blood. Sociodemographic data and dietary habits were collected using a structured questionnaire. The data were analysed using the SPSS version 21.0. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was carried out to determine the predictors of anemia among pregnant women. The overall prevalence of anemia was 80.8%. Of these 68.64% had mild anemia, 11.24% had moderate anemia and 0.89% had severe anemia. Anemia was significantly associated with inadequate dietary diversity (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) = 1.16, 95%CI = 0.57–2.36, p < 0.05), drinking tea or coffee with meal (AOR = 0.06, 95%CI = 0.03–0.13, p < 0.001), consuming less than three meals per day (AOR = 2.92, 95%CI = 1.60–5.84, p < 0.001), higher education level (AOR = 3.4, 95%CI = 1.6–7.2, p < 0.0001), birth interval of less than two years (AOR = 3.6, 95%CI = 1.1–11.9, p < 0.05) and multigravida (AOR = 1.2, 95% = 0.3–4.4, p < 0.0001). The prevalence of anemia in this study demonstrates a severe public health problem among pregnant women. Inadequate dietary diversity coupled with inadequate daily meal intake and consumption of tea or coffee were the dietary habits predictors of anemia among pregnant women. Other predictors of anemia were higher education level, multigravida and birth interval of less than two years. Nutrition policy interventions are needed in order to complement antenatal care services by providing important information on healthy eating habits during pregnancy.


Author(s):  
Otovwe Agofure ◽  
Stella Odjimogho ◽  
Oghenenioborue R. A. Okandeji-Barry ◽  
Imomotimi Glasgow

Background: Gestational diabetes mellitus is a condition in which women without previously diagnosed diabetes exhibit high blood glucose levels during pregnancy. Gestational diabetes which prevalence is on the increase in Nigeria may have negative consequences on the health of the foetus or mother. This study was designed to determine the prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus and its complications among pregnant women attending antenatal services in Diette Koki memorial hospital Opolo Bayelsa State from 2014-2016.Methods: This was a retrospective study carried out at the Diette Koki Memorial Hospital Opolo in Bayelsa State. The study population comprised pregnant women that attended antenatal care services within the period of January 2014-December 2016. A designed proforma was used to collect the data from the hospital record department.Results: The results of the study showed that the prevalence of gestational diabetes in the year 2014 was 0.023% or 2.33 per 10,000 pregnancies while the prevalence for 2015 was 0.026% or 2.59% per 10000 pregnancies. Furthermore, other complications recorded were hypertension, pre-eclampsia and eclampsia. Similarly, there was a significant correlation between prevalence of gestational diabetes and other complications (r=0.898, p=0.022).Conclusions: In conclusion, prevalence of gestational diabetes was recorded among pregnant women of Diette Koki memorial hospital Opobo Bayelsa State. Therefore, prompt screening and preventive measures should be enforced by health care professionals to prevent maternal and foetal morbidity and mortality.


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