Breastfeeding in Lebanon: barriers and policy dynamics

Breastfeeding practices in Lebanon fall short of international recommendations: despite high breastfeeding initiation, exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) rates are almost nil at 4-5 months. In the Lebanese context, health services are expected to have a large contributing role on early breastfeeding practices. This research aimed at identifying Lebanese stakeholders’ perceptions of barriers to recommended early breastfeeding initiation and EBF till 6 months in the context of health services as well as the political dynamics around existing policies that if implemented would address these health system barriers. A review of systematic reviews of the effectiveness of health services interventions to promote and support breastfeeding initiation and exclusivity revealed that a package of complementary interventions would be most effective. It would include applying maternity ward changes according to the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, facilitating the formation of lay support groups, and tailoring education and support to the setting and needs of the population. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposeful sample of 59 Lebanese stakeholders in early breastfeeding. The framework approach was used for analysing data. Health services barriers included suboptimal antenatal preparedness to breastfeeding, detrimental hospital practices, medicalisation of childbirth, health professionals’ knowledge and attitudes towards breastfeeding and aggressive marketing by breast milk substitutes companies. The socio-cultural context was depreciative of breastfeeding. Using the principles of stakeholder analysis, implementation of key policies endorsed by the Lebanese government was found to be hindered by the Ministry of Public Health’s weak governance and commitment, the weak engagement of key international organisations and professional associations compounded by the financial interests of strong stakeholders in the health care system offered by breast milk substitute companies. Key recommendations include the need for further commitment from government, grassroots advocacy to shift the culture towards demanding appropriate early breastfeeding practices, and implementation of several health services related programmes

Implications of Synchronous IVR Radio on Syrian Refugee Health and Community Dynamics

With 1,033,513 Syrian refugees adding a strain on the Lebanese healthcare system, innovation is key to improving access to healthcare. Our previous work identified the potential for technology to improve access to antenatal care services and increase refugee agency. Using (1) paper mock ups and a mobile based prototype, (2) process mapping, (3) focus groups and interviews and (4) key informant meetings, we explored the concept of refugee led community radio shows to deliver peer-led healthcare. We observed the influence of community radio shows on Syrian refugee health education, community dynamics and community agency in relationships between healthcare providers and refugees. Refugees were positively impacted through situating the technology within the community. We highlight issues around trust, agency, understanding, sel-forganization and privacy that resulted from running the shows through mock ups and a mobile based prototype. Our findings inform future work in community run radio shows

Key dimensions of women’s and their partners’ experiences of childbirth: A systematic review of reviews of qualitative studies

Background The World Health Organization 2018 intrapartum guideline for a positive birth experience emphasized the importance of maternal emotional and psychological well-being during pregnancy and the need for safe childbirth. Today, in many countries birth is safe, yet many women report negative and traumatic birth experiences, with adverse effects on their and their families’ well-being. Many reviews have attempted to understand the complexity of women’s and their partners’ birth experience; however, it remains unclear what the key dimensions of the birth experience are. Objective To synthesize the information from reviews of qualitative studies on the experience of childbirth in order to identify key dimensions of women’s and their partners’ childbirth experience. Methods Systematic database searches yielded 40 reviews, focusing either on general samples or on specific modes of birth or populations, altogether covering primary studies from over 35,000 women (and >1000 partners) in 81 countries. We appraised the reviews’ quality, extracted data and analysed it using thematic analysis. Findings Four key dimensions of women’s and partners’ birth experience (covering ten subthemes), were identified: 1) Perceptions, including attitudes and beliefs; 2) Physical aspects, including birth environment and pain; 3) Emotional challenges; and 4) Relationships, with birth companions and interactions with healthcare professionals. In contrast with the comprehensive picture that arises from our synthesis, most reviews attended to only one or two of these dimensions. Conclusions The identified key dimensions bring to light the complexity and multidimensionality of the birth experience. Within each dimension, pathways leading towards negative and traumatic birth experiences as well as pathways leading to positive experiences become tangible. Identifying key dimensions of the birth experience may help inform education and research in the field of birth experiences and gives guidance to practitioners and policy makers on how to promote positive birth experiences for women and their partners

Delivering health interventions to women, children, and adolescents in conflict settings: what have we learned from ten country case studies?

Armed conflict disproportionately affects the morbidity, mortality, and wellbeing of women, newborns, children, and adolescents. Our study presents insights from a collection of ten country case studies aiming to assess the provision of sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health and nutrition interventions in ten conflict-affected settings in Afghanistan, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. We found that despite large variations in contexts and decision making processes, antenatal care, basic emergency obstetric and newborn care, comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care, immunisation, treatment of common childhood illnesses, infant and young child feeding, and malnutrition treatment and screening were prioritised in these ten conflict settings. Many lifesaving women's and children's health (WCH) services, including the majority of reproductive, newborn, and adolescent health services, are not reported as being delivered in the ten conflict settings, and interventions to address stillbirths are absent. International donors remain the primary drivers of influencing the what, where, and how of implementing WCH interventions. Interpretation of WCH outcomes in conflict settings are particularly context-dependent given the myriad of complex factors that constitute conflict and their interactions. Moreover, the comprehensiveness and quality of data remain limited in conflict settings. The dynamic nature of modern conflict and the expanding role of non-state armed groups in large geographic areas pose new challenges to delivering WCH services. However, the humanitarian system is creative and pluralistic and has developed some novel solutions to bring lifesaving WCH services closer to populations using new modes of delivery. These solutions, when rigorously evaluated, can represent concrete response to current implementation challenges to modern armed conflicts

Effectiveness of Mechanisms and Models of Coordination between Organizations, Agencies and Bodies Providing or Financing Health Services in Humanitarian Crises: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Effective coordination between organizations, agencies and bodies providing or financing health services in humanitarian crises is required to ensure efficiency of services, avoid duplication, and improve equity. The objective of this review was to assess how, during and after humanitarian crises, different mechanisms and models of coordination between organizations, agencies and bodies providing or financing health services compare in terms of access to health services and health outcomes. METHODS: We registered a protocol for this review in PROSPERO International prospective register of systematic reviews under number PROSPERO2014:CRD42014009267. Eligible studies included randomized and nonrandomized designs, process evaluations and qualitative methods. We electronically searched Medline, PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and the WHO Global Health Library and websites of relevant organizations. We followed standard systematic review methodology for the selection, data abstraction, and risk of bias assessment. We assessed the quality of evidence using the GRADE approach. RESULTS: Of 14,309 identified citations from databases and organizations' websites, we identified four eligible studies. Two studies used mixed-methods, one used quantitative methods, and one used qualitative methods. The available evidence suggests that information coordination between bodies providing health services in humanitarian crises settings may be effective in improving health systems inputs. There is additional evidence suggesting that management/directive coordination such as the cluster model may improve health system inputs in addition to access to health services. None of the included studies assessed coordination through common representation and framework coordination. The evidence was judged to be of very low quality. CONCLUSION: This systematic review provides evidence of possible effectiveness of information coordination and management/directive coordination between organizations, agencies and bodies providing or financing health services in humanitarian crises. Our findings can inform the research agenda and highlight the need for improving conduct and reporting of research in this field