Master of Public Health - MPH / Globally, the maternal mortality rate (MMR) dropped by 44%, from 342 deaths per 100 000 to 211 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2017. Developing countries have reached two-thirds coverage (69 %) of the recommended focused visits and first ANC. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, approximately 66% (201,000) of deaths occur during birth. MMR can be reduced if pregnant women initiate ANC early enough and receive quality care. In Swaziland, only 14% of pregnant women make their first ANC visit during the first trimester, 64% during the 2nd trimester and 22% during the 3rd trimester. The study aimed to explore pregnant women's perceptions of the factors contributing to late ANC booking in the Shiselweni Region.

No description available.

No description available.

Thesis (M Med.(Family Medicine))--University of Limpopo, 2008. / Objective: To determine what proportion of pregnant women attending antenatal care in Mecklenburg Hospital eat soil. Study Design: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted at Mecklenburg Hospital. Results: A total 273 pregnant women participated in the study, of which 85% eat soil. The majority (74%) were single, mean age of 26 years. About seventy-eight percent had secondary education. Most of the women were unemployed. The majority of women believed that soil eating gives energy, taste nice, makes women feel strong, and makes stomach feel full. The other reason given by these women is that soil eating protects unborn baby from poison, gives nutrients to unborn baby, prevent prolonged labor, stops morning sickness. Conclusion: We conclude that the majority of pregnant women seen at Mecklenburg Hospital eat soil. There was not direct relationship between education level and nutritional reasons for eating soil. Furthermore, fetal and maternal reasons for eating soil were not associated with education level.

Objective: To describe the levels of ANC adequacy and factors related in 3 provinces of Vietnam: Long an, Ben tre and Quang ngai. Method: Data from three rural provinces of Vietnam collected by the Vietnam Australia Primary Health Care Project were analysed using descriptive and analytical statistical techniques including multivariate regression, multipart analysis and hierarchical techniques. A sample of 1335 eligible women was available for analysis. The Andersen Health Behaviour Model was utilised in analyses of ANC utilisation. The Donabedian Quality of Health Model was used in analyses of ANC content and overall adequacy. Results: ANC was inadequate with only 71% of women having some ANC, 51% having initial visits within the first four months, 41% having three or more visits, 35% having three or more visits with the initial visits within the first four months, 17% of women reported three quarter or more of recommended ANC procedures/advice, 12% of women had enough ANC utilisation and fair ANC content. Factors that existed prior to contact with health care providers such as external environment, predisposing and need were related to whether the women seek any ANC and to pregnancy duration at first visits. However, factors that resulted from initial contact with health care providers, such as satisfaction of women with ANC services and health care provider related characteristics, were important in the models examining total number of ANC visits, overall ANC utilisation, content of ANC reported and overall ANC adequacy. Province of residence related to all aspects of ANC adequacy. Different aspects of ANC adequacy were related to each other. Conclusion: ANC adequacy levels in Vietnam were low. To increase the proportions of women who use ANC services and attend ANC early, promotion of ANC should be targeted at women at risk. However, to improve continuation with ANC, ANC content, and overall ANC adequacy, the quality of services provided needs to be improved. To reduce the gap between provinces, priority should be given to less developed provinces. / PhD Doctorate

No description available.

Magister Public Health - MPH / Introduction: Nigeria operates a three tiered health care delivery system with a large percentage of health care delivery vested at the primary care level. There has been over the years a continued effort by the government to decentralize health care service thereby increasing the range of services provided at the primary care level. Despite all these efforts there is still low utilization of primary health care services. This study therefore seeks to explore the factors that may be responsible for poor utilization of primary health service in Nasarawa State, Nigeria using two primary health clinics in Lafia local government area as case studies. Methodology: The study was carried out using the qualitative research methodology primarily using two data collection methods, the focus group discussions and individual interviews. A total of sixty participants were sampled, these consisted of ten members of staff, twenty non facility users and thirty facility users. Thirty individual interviews were conducted and four focus group discussions held with staff and facility users at the two clinics. Facility users were randomly selected as they attended the clinic on the data collection days and were invited to participate in the study. Every second patient attending the clinic was selected for the focus group discussion and every third person for the interviews. The staff participants were randomly selected based on their availability while non-facility users were selected using snowballing. Data was analyzed using thematic analysis method. Findings: Two major themes emerged following data analysis; these were perception and experiences of facility users and barriers to utilization of health services. Users had a good perception of the services they received and are reasonably satisfied but certain deficiencies in the health care systems compromised the quality of service. Several factors were however hindering the utilization of these services and these include mainly institutional factors such as lack of infrastructure, equipment and staffing constraints; household factors such as cost of service and responsibility of decision making and other factors such as stigmatization and beliefs. Conclusion: Facility users of these clinics seem to have an overall good impression of services at the clinics; however there are certain fundamental deficiencies that need to be urgently addressed to improve the care provided at these clinics as these constitute barriers to utilization. These deficiencies such as the absence of electricity and water, lack of basic work equipment and inappropriate staff composition need to be addressed by the local government health department to ensure utilization and improved quality of service.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between antenatal care (ANC) adequacy and preterm births. The researcher used the quantitative, descriptive, correlational, retrospective, case control design on a sample size of 40 cases and 80 controls. A checklist was used to collect data at one state hospital in Windhoek. When the Adequacy of Prenatal Care Use (APNCU) index was applied, premature birth was found to be less likely for women in the higher categories of care (OR 0.121; 95% CI 0.124–0.613) as compared to those in the lower categories. Similarly when the Content and Timing of care in Pregnancy (CTP) tool was used; women in the higher categories of care, were less likely (OR 0.114; 95% CI 0.012–1.056) to give birth prematurely as compared to those in the lower categories / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between antenatal care (ANC) adequacy and preterm births. The researcher used the quantitative, descriptive, correlational, retrospective, case control design on a sample size of 40 cases and 80 controls. A checklist was used to collect data at one state hospital in Windhoek. When the Adequacy of Prenatal Care Use (APNCU) index was applied, premature birth was found to be less likely for women in the higher categories of care (OR 0.121; 95% CI 0.124–0.613) as compared to those in the lower categories. Similarly when the Content and Timing of care in Pregnancy (CTP) tool was used; women in the higher categories of care, were less likely (OR 0.114; 95% CI 0.012–1.056) to give birth prematurely as compared to those in the lower categories / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)

Magister Curationis - MCur / Despite the awareness of the importance of initiating antenatal care in the first trimester of a pregnancy (before 12 weeks gestation), late initiation of antenatal care (on or after 24 weeks of gestation) remains a common trend amongst pregnant women. The late initiation of antenatal care poses such a risk, to both the pregnant women and their unborn babies that it can contribute to maternal and foetal mortality and morbidity. The late initiation of antenatal care, an entirely avoidable occurrence, has an impact on targets set by the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), now focusing on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG‟s) set out by the United Nations. This study aim to investigate the factors which contribute to and cause the late initiation of antenatal care in pregnant women in a region in the Western Cape. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the factors that influence pregnant woman and contribute to late initiation of antenatal care (after 24 weeks gestational age) in one health facility/district in Cape Town. The findings of the study identified possible factors that may cause pregnant women to initiate antenatal care late in pregnancy and these findings could facilitate planning and possible interventions targeting the importance of early initiation in the community.