This descriptive quantitative survey attempted to identify reasons why pregnant women who have been screened as low-risk pregnancies failed to utilise MOUs for the delivery of their babies. The objective of the study was to investigate the factors determining the under-utilisation of Sharpville MOU in Emfuleni sub-district. The research population comprised all postnatal mothers residing in Sharpeville who delivered their babies at hospital and who were screened as low-risk pregnancies; the accessible convenience sample consisted of all postnatal mothers who attended Sharpeville Clinic for their six weeks follow-up postnatal care from 5 December 2005 till 6 January 2006 and who were willing to complete questionnaires. Data was collected by means of a structured questionnaire and analysed using the SPSS computer program. Major factors drawn from the study that influence their decision on place of delivery were nurses' attitudes, lack of doctors, transport, privacy and resources. / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)

This cross-sectional exploratory and descriptive quantitative study explored the factors that impact on feeding practices of infants 0-12 months, encountered in the Child Welfare Clinic in Tema Manhean Health Centre and to determine the possible factors that lead to malnutrition. The population for this study comprised all infants who attended the Child Welfare Clinic at the Tema Manhean Health Centre. Three hundred and ninety infants participated in this study. Data was collected by means of a structured questionnaire and analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 20. Findings of the study revealed that a larger number of the mothers were still breastfeeding at the time of data collection. All infants aged six months or older were given complementary foods. Some of the factors found to be associated with infant malnutrition included education of mother, employment status of mother, marital status, cultural practices and parity. / Health Studies / M.A.(Public Health)

The study reports on the perceptions of the midwives and pregnant women of the PMTCT of HIV programme at the antenatal care and maternity ward at the Johan Heyns Community Health Centre. A qualitative approach was adopted to conduct the study. Purposive sampling was used to select participants and was informed by social behavioural theories. Data was collected using interviews and analysed using thematic categorisation. The findings show that at the first PMTCT encounter participants had little to no knowledge of the PMTCT programme, generally displayed a lack of interest, experienced emotional distress, and fear at the thought of having to disclosing their HIV-positive status to their partners/family and had certain trepidations about participating in the PMTCT programme. The participants’ perception on their roles was that their roles were interlinked, midwife needs the recipients (pregnant woman) and pregnant woman needs the provider (midwife) therefore one cannot do PMTCT without the other. The study recommends that the capacity building of pregnant women be optimised, that PMTCT awareness campaigns for women of childbearing age should be a priority and PMTCT skills to be prerequisite for midwives deployed to ANC clinics and maternity ward units. / Health Studies / M. A. (Social Behaviour Studies in HIV/AIDS)

The study reports on the perceptions of the midwives and pregnant women of the PMTCT of HIV programme at the antenatal care and maternity ward at the Johan Heyns Community Health Centre. A qualitative approach was adopted to conduct the study. Purposive sampling was used to select participants and was informed by social behavioural theories. Data was collected using interviews and analysed using thematic categorisation. The findings show that at the first PMTCT encounter participants had little to no knowledge of the PMTCT programme, generally displayed a lack of interest, experienced emotional distress, and fear at the thought of having to disclosing their HIV-positive status to their partners/family and had certain trepidations about participating in the PMTCT programme. The participants’ perception on their roles was that their roles were interlinked, midwife needs the recipients (pregnant woman) and pregnant woman needs the provider (midwife) therefore one cannot do PMTCT without the other. The study recommends that the capacity building of pregnant women be optimised, that PMTCT awareness campaigns for women of childbearing age should be a priority and PMTCT skills to be prerequisite for midwives deployed to ANC clinics and maternity ward units. / Health Studies / M.A. (Social Behaviour Studies in HIV/AIDS)

This descriptive quantitative survey attempted to identify reasons why pregnant women who have been screened as low-risk pregnancies failed to utilise MOUs for the delivery of their babies. The objective of the study was to investigate the factors determining the under-utilisation of Sharpville MOU in Emfuleni sub-district. The research population comprised all postnatal mothers residing in Sharpeville who delivered their babies at hospital and who were screened as low-risk pregnancies; the accessible convenience sample consisted of all postnatal mothers who attended Sharpeville Clinic for their six weeks follow-up postnatal care from 5 December 2005 till 6 January 2006 and who were willing to complete questionnaires. Data was collected by means of a structured questionnaire and analysed using the SPSS computer program. Major factors drawn from the study that influence their decision on place of delivery were nurses' attitudes, lack of doctors, transport, privacy and resources. / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)

Mini-thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Technology: Public Management in the Faculty of Business at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology 2014 / Maternity service in South Africa faces particular problems in the provision of care to birthing mothers. Violence and abuse have been reported and maternity death rates are high, being related to inadequate provision of care (Myburgh, 2007:29). Ethical conduct plays a significant role in service delivery in Midwife Obstetrics Units (MOU) in general. This is of particular importance since every patient, especially pregnant women, should to be handled with the utmost care, respect and dignity. The research problem emanates from nurses’ behaviour towards patients in MOU labour wards, where women continue to be victims of abuse. Ironically, it is regrettable that they are abused by those who are supposed to be their advocates. The objectives of the study were to assess if nurses in MOU labour wards conduct themselves ethically when dealing with patients, to determine the perceptions of patients towards nurses during child birth stages, as well as to examine factors in maternity wards that may influence a nurse’s performance when dealing with patients. The study adopted the quantitative research method to answer the research question and data interpretation was based on statistical analysis. This method was deemed to be the most effective for collection of a large quantity of data and numerical (quantifiable) data is considered objective. A Likert-type questionnaire comprising closed-ended questions was the measurement instrument. This was considered to least inconvenience nurses and postnatal patients to whom these questionnaires were administered. Answer choices were graded from 1 to 4, being strongly agree, agree, disagree and strongly disagree. The population comprised nurses and postnatal patients in MOUs in the Western Cape, South Africa. Consecutive sampling was conducted in two selected MOUs, being Michael Mapongwana (MM) and Gugulethu (GG), with 311 questionnaires being distributed to both nurses and postnatal Patients in these two facilities. The findings indicated that the ethical conduct of nurses in both MM and GG maternity wards was relatively good. However, some survey findings revealed some unsatisfactory gaps that exist in what both hospitals currently offer to patients in the areas of individual patient care, communication and baby security certainty. Furthermore, the findings indicated that a significant number of patients who chose to make use of MM and GG hospitals, are satisfied with the standard of service received during their stay. However, there were some discrepancies in terms of senior management service where excellence in the monitoring role emerged as being lacking. There is a need for improvement in the current levels of ethical conduct of nurses in both the MM and GG labour wards. These needs for improvement relate to working conditions, especially linked to the human resource (HR) function, leadership and management functions, and improved monitoring and control mechanisms.

This cross-sectional exploratory and descriptive quantitative study explored the factors that impact on feeding practices of infants 0-12 months, encountered in the Child Welfare Clinic in Tema Manhean Health Centre and to determine the possible factors that lead to malnutrition. The population for this study comprised all infants who attended the Child Welfare Clinic at the Tema Manhean Health Centre. Three hundred and ninety infants participated in this study. Data was collected by means of a structured questionnaire and analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 20. Findings of the study revealed that a larger number of the mothers were still breastfeeding at the time of data collection. All infants aged six months or older were given complementary foods. Some of the factors found to be associated with infant malnutrition included education of mother, employment status of mother, marital status, cultural practices and parity. / Health Studies / M.A.(Public Health)

The purpose of this project was to design a series of self-directed learning modules for enrollees in the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program in Riverside County, California. The WIC Program is a supplemental nutrition program that, among other things, provides participants with nutrition education to help them understand the health benefits of choosing more nutritious food. This project features information concerning the problem of food insecurity, the nutrition education of low-income women and children in the WIC program, and the characteristics of adult learners. The objective was to examine the WIC participants' comprehension and willingness to use self-directed learning modules as a nutrition education supplement.

The purpose of this study was to determine factors influencing skilled delivery service utilisation in order to develop strategies to improve utilisation of skilled birth attendance service in North West Ethiopia. The objectives were to explore and describe the perceptions and experiences of the community regarding skilled utilisation of the birth attendance service; explore reasons for non-utilisation of skilled birth attendance service; asses the health system experience of provision of skilled birth attendance service; and formulate strategies to improve utilisation of skilled birth attendance service. The study employed a qualitative, descriptive, and explorative research design to address the research questions formulated by the researcher. The study used focus group discussion guide to obtain information from pregnant women and women who gave birth recently. Furthermore, the study used an interview guide to gather information from health extension workers, midwives, health centre heads, district health office technical experts and heads. It also employed and inductive thematic analysis approach to analyse the qualitative data. The study further used the Atlas ti version 7 for the data analysis. The steps followed for the analysis were data immersion, coding, displaying, reduction, and interpretation. Overall, nine themes emerged from the analysis of the data. Consequently, the researcher used the findings of the study to develop strategies to improve the utilisation of skilled birth attendance service. / Health Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Health Studies)

MCur / Department of Advanced Nursing Sciences / See the attached abstract below