17 research outputs found

    Pills and prayers: a comparative qualitative study of community conceptualisations of pre-eclampsia and pluralistic care in Ethiopia, Haiti and Zimbabwe.

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    BACKGROUND: Pre-eclampsia is a leading cause of preventable maternal and perinatal deaths globally. While health inequities remain stark, removing financial or structural barriers to care does not necessarily improve uptake of life-saving treatment. Building on existing literature elaborating the sociocultural contexts that shape behaviours around pregnancy and childbirth can identify nuanced influences relating to pre-eclampsia care. METHODS: We conducted a cross-cultural comparative study exploring lived experiences and understanding of pre-eclampsia in Ethiopia, Haiti and Zimbabwe. Our primary objective was to examine what local understandings of pre-eclampsia might be shared between these three under-resourced settings despite their considerable sociocultural differences. Between August 2018 and January 2020, we conducted 89 in-depth interviews with individuals and 17 focus group discussions (n = 106). We purposively sampled perinatal women, survivors of pre-eclampsia, families of deceased women, partners, older male and female decision-makers, traditional birth attendants, religious and traditional healers, community health workers and facility-based health professionals. Template analysis was conducted to facilitate cross-country comparison drawing on Social Learning Theory and the Health Belief Model. RESULTS: Survivors of pre-eclampsia spoke of their uncertainty regarding symptoms and diagnosis. A lack of shared language challenged coherence in interpretations of illness related to pre-eclampsia. Across settings, raised blood pressure in pregnancy was often attributed to psychosocial distress and dietary factors, and eclampsia linked to spiritual manifestations. Pluralistic care was driven by attribution of causes, social norms and expectations relating to alternative care and trust in biomedicine across all three settings. Divergence across the contexts centred around nuances in religious or traditional practices relating to maternal health and pregnancy. CONCLUSIONS: Engaging faith and traditional caregivers and the wider community offers opportunities to move towards coherent conceptualisations of pre-eclampsia, and hence greater access to potentially life-saving care

    Pills and prayers: a comparative qualitative study of community conceptualisations of pre-eclampsia and pluralistic care in Ethiopia, Haiti and Zimbabwe

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    Background: Pre-eclampsia is a leading cause of preventable maternal and perinatal deaths globally. While health inequities remain stark, removing financial or structural barriers to care does not necessarily improve uptake of life-saving treatment. Building on existing literature elaborating the sociocultural contexts that shape behaviours around pregnancy and childbirth can identify nuanced influences relating to pre-eclampsia care. Methods: We conducted a cross-cultural comparative study exploring lived experiences and understanding of pre-eclampsia in Ethiopia, Haiti and Zimbabwe. Our primary objective was to examine what local understandings of pre-eclampsia might be shared between these three under-resourced settings despite their considerable sociocultural differences. Between August 2018 and January 2020, we conducted 89 in-depth interviews with individuals and 17 focus group discussions (n = 106). We purposively sampled perinatal women, survivors of pre-eclampsia, families of deceased women, partners, older male and female decision-makers, traditional birth attendants, religious and traditional healers, community health workers and facility-based health professionals. Template analysis was conducted to facilitate cross-country comparison drawing on Social Learning Theory and the Health Belief Model. Results: Survivors of pre-eclampsia spoke of their uncertainty regarding symptoms and diagnosis. A lack of shared language challenged coherence in interpretations of illness related to pre-eclampsia. Across settings, raised blood pressure in pregnancy was often attributed to psychosocial distress and dietary factors, and eclampsia linked to spiritual manifestations. Pluralistic care was driven by attribution of causes, social norms and expectations relating to alternative care and trust in biomedicine across all three settings. Divergence across the contexts centred around nuances in religious or traditional practices relating to maternal health and pregnancy. Conclusions: Engaging faith and traditional caregivers and the wider community offers opportunities to move towards coherent conceptualisations of pre-eclampsia, and hence greater access to potentially life-saving care

    Exploring the effect of implementation and context on a stepped-wedge randomised controlled trial of a vital sign triage device in routine maternity care in low-resource settings

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    © 2019 The Author(s). Background: Interventions aimed at reducing maternal mortality are increasingly complex. Understanding how complex interventions are delivered, to whom, and how they work is key in ensuring their rapid scale-up. We delivered a vital signs triage intervention into routine maternity care in eight low- and middle-income countries with the aim of reducing a composite outcome of morbidity and mortality. This was a pragmatic, hybrid effectiveness-implementation stepped-wedge randomised controlled trial. In this study, we present the results of the mixed-methods process evaluation. The aim was to describe implementation and local context and integrate results to determine whether differences in the effect of the intervention across sites could be explained. Methods: The duration and content of implementation, uptake of the intervention and its impact on clinical management were recorded. These were integrated with interviews (n = 36) and focus groups (n = 19) at 3 months and 6-9 months after implementation. In order to determine the effect of implementation on effectiveness, measures were ranked and averaged across implementation domains to create a composite implementation strength score and then correlated with the primary outcome. Results: Overall, 61.1% (n = 2747) of health care providers were trained in the intervention (range 16.5% to 89.2%) over a mean of 10.8 days. Uptake and acceptability of the intervention was good. All clusters demonstrated improved availability of vital signs equipment. There was an increase in the proportion of women having their blood pressure measured in pregnancy following the intervention (79.2% vs. 97.6%; OR 1.30 (1.29-1.31)) and no significant change in referral rates (3.7% vs. 4.4% OR 0.89; (0.39-2.05)). Availability of resources and acceptable, effective referral systems influenced health care provider interaction with the intervention. There was no correlation between process measures within or between domains, or between the composite score and the primary outcome. Conclusions: This process evaluation has successfully described the quantity and quality of implementation. Variation in implementation and context did not explain differences in the effectiveness of the intervention on maternal mortality and morbidity. We suggest future trials should prioritise in-depth evaluation of local context and clinical pathways. Trial registration: Trial registration: ISRCTN41244132. Registered on 2 Feb 2016

    Outcomes in women attempting vaginal birth after caesarean section, and in their babies, at two tertiary institutions

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    Objectives: To determine the maternal and perinatal outcomes of vaginal delivery in pregnant women with one previous caesarean section. Study Design: This was a prospective cohort design.Setting: The study was conducted at Mbuya Nehanda and Harare Central Hospital Maternity Units.Subjects: Three hundred and eighty (380) pregnant women were recruited using consecutive sampling and 351 were available for final analysis. Eligible women had a single lower segment caesarean section, a gestational age ≥ 37 weeks, singleton pregnancy with a cephalic presentation and were willing to participate.Main Outcome Measures: Main outcome factors was maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidityResults: One hundred and twenty eight women (36.5%) had elective repeat caesarean section and 223 (63.5%) attempted vaginal delivery. There were neither maternal deaths nor perinatal mortality. 51.1% of those who attempted vaginal delivery were successful. Previous vaginal deliveries, a height above 162.8cm, higher parity and longer interval from previous caesarean section were significantly associated with successful vaginal delivery. A successful vaginal delivery was associated with lower NICU admissions and higher APGAR scores in the neonate than those delivered by caesarean section but there was no statistically significant difference between the groups for APGAR scores <7. There were 3 cases of uterine rupture discovered at caesarean section but these were not associated with maternal or perinatal mortality.Conclusion: Attempting vaginal delivery is safe and should be continued to be offered to properly selected women with a single previous caesarean section. There was a low rate of maternal and foetal complications

    Incidence and characteristics of pregnancy-related death across ten low- and middle-income geographical regions: secondary analysis of a cluster randomised controlled trial.

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    OBJECTIVE:The aim of this article is to describe the incidence and characteristics of pregnancy-related death in low- and middle-resource settings, in relation to the availability of key obstetric resources. DESIGN:This is a secondary analysis of a stepped-wedge cluster randomised controlled trial. SETTING:This trial was undertaken at ten sites across eight low- and middle-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa, India and Haiti. POPULATION:Institutional-level consent was obtained and all women presenting for maternity care were eligible for inclusion. METHODS:Pregnancy-related deaths were collected prospectively from routine data sources and active case searching. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:Pregnancy-related death, place, timing and age of maternal death, and neonatal outcomes in women with this outcome. RESULTS:Over 20 months, in 536 233 deliveries there were 998 maternal deaths (18.6/10 000, range 28/10 000-630/10 000). The leading causes of death were obstetric haemorrhage (36.0%, n = 359), hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (20.6%, n = 206), sepsis (14.1%, n = 141) and other (26.5%, n = 264). Approximately a quarter of deaths occurred prior to delivery (28.4%, n = 283), 35.7% (n = 356) occurred on the day of delivery and 35.9% (n = 359) occurred after delivery. Half of maternal deaths (50.6%; n = 505) occurred in women aged 20-29 years, 10.3% (n = 103) occurred in women aged under 20 years, 34.5% (n = 344) occurred in women aged 30-39 years and 4.6% (n = 46) occurred in women aged ≥40 years. There was no measured association between the availability of key obstetric resources and the rate of pregnancy-related death. CONCLUSIONS:The large variation in the rate of pregnancy-related death, irrespective of resource availability, emphasises that inequality and inequity in health care persists. TWEETABLE ABSTRACT:Inequality and inequity in pregnancy-related death persists globally, irrespective of resource availability

    Evaluation of a novel vital sign device to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity in low-resource settings: a mixed method feasibility study for the CRADLE-3 trial

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    © 2018 The Author(s). Background: The CRADLE-3 trial is a stepped-wedge randomised controlled trial aiming to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity by implementing a novel vital sign device (CRADLE Vital Sign Alert) and training package into routine maternity care in 10 low-income sites. The MRC Guidance on complex interventions proposes that interventions and implementation strategies be shaped by early phase piloting and development work. We present the findings of a three-month mixed-methodology feasibility study for this trial, describe how this was informed by the MRC guidance and the study design was refined. Methods: The fidelity, dose, feasibility and acceptability of implementation and training materials were assessed in three representative non-trial sites (Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, India) using multiple-choice questionnaires, evaluation of clinical management (action log), healthcare provider (HCP) semi-structured interviews and focus groups 4-10 weeks after implementation. Simultaneously, the 10 sites included in the main trial (eight countries) collected primary outcome data to inform the power calculation and randomisation allocation and assess the feasibility of data collection. Results: The package was implemented with high fidelity (85% of HCP trained, n=204). The questionnaires indicated a good understanding of device use with 75% of participants scoring >75% (n=97; 90% of those distributed). Action logs were inconsistently completed but indicated that the majority of HCP responded appropriately to abnormal results. From 18 HCP interviews and two focus groups it was widely reported that the intervention improved capacity to make clinical decisions, escalate care and make appropriate referrals. Nine of the ten main trial sites achieved ethical approval for pilot data collection. Intensive care was an inconsistent marker of morbidity and stroke an infrequent outcome and therefore they were removed from the main trial composite outcome. Tools and methods of data collection were optimized and event rates used to inform randomisation. Conclusions: This feasibility study demonstrates that the components of the intervention were acceptable, methods of implementing were successful and the main trial design would be feasible. Qualitative work identified key moderators that informed the main trial process evaluation. Changes to the training package, implementation strategy, study design and processes were identified to refine the implementation in the main trial. Trial registration:ISRCTN41244132 ; Registered 24/11/2015
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