Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Editorial: Care During Pregnancy And Early Childhood For Growth And Development In Low- And Middle- Income Countries, Ranadip Chowdhury, Ravi Prakash Upadhyay, Bireshwar Sinha, Nita Bhandari, Sunita Taneja, Jai K. Das

Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health

No abstract provided.

Sars-Cov-2 Seroprevalence In Pregnant Women In Kilifi, Kenya From March 2020 To March 2022, Angela Koech, Geoffrey Omuse, Alex Mugo, Isaac Mwaniki, Joseph Mutunga, Moses Mukhanya, Onesmus Wanje, Grace Mwashigadi, Geoffrey Katana, Marleen Temmerman

Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health

Background: Seroprevalence studies are an alternative approach to estimating the extent of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and the evolution of the pandemic in different geographical settings. We aimed to determine the SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence from March 2020 to March 2022 in a rural and urban setting in Kilifi County, Kenya.

Methods: We obtained representative random samples of stored serum from a pregnancy cohort study for the period March 2020 to March 2022 and tested for antibodies against the spike protein using a qualitative SARS-CoV-2 ELISA kit (Wantai, total antibodies). All positive samples were retested for anti-SARS-CoV-2 anti-nucleocapsid antibodies (Euroimmun, ELISA kits, NCP, …

Effects Of Integrating Family Planning With Maternal, Newborn, And Child Health Services On Uptake Of Voluntary Modern Contraceptive Methods In Rural Pakistan: Protocol For A Quasi-Experimental Study, Zahid Memon, Sophie Reale, Wardah Ahmed, Rachael Spencer, Talib Hussain Lashari, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta, Hora Soltani

Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health

Background: The uptake of modern contraceptive methods (MCMs) remains low, with 25% of women reporting their use in Pakistan. The overarching interventions covering service delivery platforms at facility and community levels necessitate the integration of family planning (FP) with maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) services.
Objective: The main aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of an integrated FP-MNCH service delivery model to increase coverage of MCMs in rural Pakistan. Moreover, we aim to measure the level of effectiveness of interventions regarding the uptake of MCMs.
Methods: A quasi-experimental, sequential, mixed methods study design with pre- and …

The Family Planning "Know-Do" Gap Among Married Women Of Reproductive Age In Urban Pakistan, S Yameen, Sidrah Nausheen, I Hussain, K Hackett, Arjumand Rizvi, Uzair Ansari, Zohra S. Lassi, D Canning, I Shah, Sajid Bashir Soofi

Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health

Objective: To examine the prevalence and predictors of family planning (FP) know-do gaps among married women of reproductive age (MWRA) in low socio-economic urban areas of Karachi, Pakistan.
Design: This was a cross-sectional survey of randomly selected 7288 MWRA (16-49 years) to identify predictors of the know-do gap in FP using a logistic regression model.
Results: More than one third (35.5%) of MWRA had FP know-do gap, i.e., despite having a knowledge of contraceptives and desire to limit or delay childbearing, they were not using contraceptives. Women were less likely to use FP if they were getting older (25-35 years: …

Causes And Circumstances Of Maternal Death: A Secondary Analysis Of The Community-Level Interventions For Pre-Eclampsia (Clip) Trials Cohort, Annet M. Aukes, Kristina Arion, Jeffrey N. Bone, Jing Li, Marianne Vidler, Mrutyunjaya B. Bellad, Zahra Hoodbhoy, Rahat Qureshi, Sana Sheikh, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta

Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health

Background: Incomplete vital registration systems mean that causes of death during pregnancy and childbirth are poorly understood in low-income and middle-income countries. To inform global efforts to reduce maternal mortality, we compared physician review and computerised analysis of verbal autopsies (interpreting verbal autopsies [InterVA] software), to understand their agreement on maternal cause of death and circumstances of mortality categories (COMCATs) in the Community-Level Interventions for Pre-eclampsia (CLIP) cluster randomised trials.
Methods: The CLIP trials took place in India, Pakistan, and Mozambique, enrolling pregnant women aged 12-49 years between Nov 1, 2014, and Feb 28, 2017. 69 330 pregnant women were …

Blood Pressure Thresholds In Pregnancy For Identifying Maternal And Infant Risk: A Secondary Analysis Of Community-Level Interventions For Pre-Eclampsia (Clip) Trial Data, Jeffrey N. Bone, Laura A. Magee, Joel Singer, Hannah Nathan, Rahat Qureshi, Charfudin Sacoor, Esperança Sevene, Andrew Shennan, Mrutyunjaya B. Bellad, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta

Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health

Background: Blood pressure measurement is a marker of antenatal care quality. In well resourced settings, lower blood pressure cutoffs for hypertension are associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. We aimed to study the associations between blood pressure thresholds and adverse outcomes and the diagnostic test properties of these blood pressure cutoffs in low-resource settings.
Methods: We did a secondary analysis of data from 22 intervention clusters in the Community-Level Interventions for Pre-eclampsia (CLIP) cluster randomised trials (NCT01911494) in India (n=6), Mozambique (n=6), and Pakistan (n=10). We included pregnant women aged 15-49 years (12-49 years in Mozambique), identified in their …