Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Women's Health Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Reproductive Health

Discipline
Keyword
Publication Year

Articles 31 - 60 of 619

Full-Text Articles in Women's Health

Dynamics Of Injectable Contraceptive Use In India, The Evidence Project Jan 2018

Dynamics Of Injectable Contraceptive Use In India, The Evidence Project

Reproductive Health

This brief describes a research study by the Population Council, with support from USAID/India, whose purpose is to provide evidence that can be used to strengthen the family planning program and meet the needs of reversible contraceptive users who want to prevent pregnancy in India. Understanding the experiences of the small but growing population of women choosing the injectable is important as the Government of India continues to roll out injectable contraceptive methods in the public sector. The report’s key recommendations include: disseminating messaging about potential side effects of the injectable, institutionalizing quality of care in pre-service trainings for all …


Findings From Post-Intervention Analysis Of Pre-Eclampsia/Eclampsia In Ebonyi State, Salisu Mohammed Ishaku Jan 2018

Findings From Post-Intervention Analysis Of Pre-Eclampsia/Eclampsia In Ebonyi State, Salisu Mohammed Ishaku

Reproductive Health

Maternal and newborn deaths due to pre-eclampsia and eclampsia (PE/E) are preventable, yet in Nigeria this is the most significant direct cause of maternal mortality. Following a landscape analysis to better understand the enormity of this problem across seven states in Nigeria, a cross-cutting intervention was implemented in Cross River, Ebonyi, and Kogi states. Researchers worked with primary healthcare (PHC) providers, policymakers, women’s groups, and community members to increase uptake of underutilized interventions and commodities for the prevention and treatment of PE/E in rural Nigeria. This brief presents study findings from Ebonyi State on post-intervention landscape changes in: programmatic and …


Dynamics Of Interval Iud Use In India, The Evidence Project Jan 2018

Dynamics Of Interval Iud Use In India, The Evidence Project

Reproductive Health

The IUD is an important long-acting, reversible contraceptive method, and an alternative to permanent female sterilization that does not carry the risk of regret. In India, as the government aims to expand the basket of reversible method choice available to women, understanding the experiences of those who use the interval IUD is paramount. This brief describes a study by the Population Council, with support from USAID/India, which found that overall there is room to improve the quality of services clients receive. The report recommends disseminating messaging about potential side effects of the IUD, training frontline health workers on four domains …


Ensuring Adequate Financing Of Family Planning Commodities And Services, Moazzam Ali, Benjamin Bellows Jan 2018

Ensuring Adequate Financing Of Family Planning Commodities And Services, Moazzam Ali, Benjamin Bellows

Reproductive Health

Increasing efficient and effective investment in family planning (FP) through the public and private sectors is key to meeting the FP2020 goal of helping 120 million additional women become modern contraceptive users. This policy brief identifies several policy and program considerations to ensure adequate financing of family planning commodities and services: sustained fundraising, pooling, and strategic purchasing; reaching new users and improving continuation rates among current users; and conducting further research on family planning quality performance metrics to test their correlation with higher continuation rates. Future efforts to reduce unmet need for FP must consider consumers’ out-of-pocket costs, programmatic cost-effectiveness, …


Dynamics Of Oral Contraceptive Pill Use In India, The Evidence Project Jan 2018

Dynamics Of Oral Contraceptive Pill Use In India, The Evidence Project

Reproductive Health

The purpose of this brief is to provide evidence that can be used to strengthen the family planning program in India, particularly for community-based and facility-based distribution of oral contraceptive pills (OCPs), use of which remains low despite their availability. Understanding women’s interactions with frontline health workers while obtaining the method and during follow-up counseling can help the Government of India improve its National Family Planning Program. Based on its findings, the report recommends that all providers, especially frontline health workers, receive training focusing on four domains of quality of care: 1) respectful care, 2) counseling to enable appropriate method …


Expanding Access To Family Planning For Married Adolescent Girls In The Urban Slums Of Dhaka, Fauzia Akhter Huda, Nancy Termini Lachance Jan 2018

Expanding Access To Family Planning For Married Adolescent Girls In The Urban Slums Of Dhaka, Fauzia Akhter Huda, Nancy Termini Lachance

Reproductive Health

Early pregnancy is associated with adverse health, social, and economic consequences for girls, and Bangladesh has an adolescent fertility rate that is among the highest in the region. Poor, slum-dwelling girls are especially vulnerable. This policy brief outlines a project that icddr,b, a STEP UP project partner, initiated to test three innovative strategies aiming to support the unmet family planning needs of these girls. This brief concludes with government-level policy and program recommendations based on the evidence of this project for leveraging existing government health programs to better serve the needs of married adolescent girls and reduce their risks of …


Expanding Contraceptive Choice, Heather Clark, Saumya Ramarao, Catherine Unthank, Kazuyo Machiyama, Nandita Thatte Jan 2018

Expanding Contraceptive Choice, Heather Clark, Saumya Ramarao, Catherine Unthank, Kazuyo Machiyama, Nandita Thatte

Reproductive Health

Expanding the range of contraceptive options helps individuals to make choices appropriate to their needs and circumstances, allows them to switch from one method to another if desired, and reflects a program focus on quality and rights. This policy brief outlines policy and program considerations in order to establish and maintain well-functioning supply chains for an expanded choice of contraceptives: introducing new contraceptive technologies to satisfy the diverse preferences of women and their partners; overcoming access barriers to existing methods such as adverse economic and social circumstances, including gender norms; and maximizing the potential of expanded contraceptive choice by ensuring …


How Are Educated Women In Ghana Regulating Fertility Without High Levels Of Modern Contraceptive Use?, Kazuyo Machiyama, Cicely Marston, Nancy Termini Lachance, Terence Adda-Balinia, Placide Tapsoba Jan 2018

How Are Educated Women In Ghana Regulating Fertility Without High Levels Of Modern Contraceptive Use?, Kazuyo Machiyama, Cicely Marston, Nancy Termini Lachance, Terence Adda-Balinia, Placide Tapsoba

Reproductive Health

While Ghana has made striking gains in enabling its women to use family planning to reduce family size—the total fertility rate shifted from 7.0 to 4.2 children per woman from the 1970s to the 2010s—the Strengthening Evidence for Programming on Unintended Pregnancy (STEP UP) studies found that educated women in Ghana are achieving their fertility goals by limited use of highly effective contraceptive methods. Their fertility regulation strategies involve contraceptive method mosaics that have not been captured by the DHS. This evidence summary aggregates research from the STEP UP Research Programme Consortium along with other related evidence to explore this …


Ending Eclampsia: Phc Ph/E_Plus Model, Charlotte E. Warren Jan 2018

Ending Eclampsia: Phc Ph/E_Plus Model, Charlotte E. Warren

Reproductive Health

Pre-eclampsia and eclampsia (PE/E)—life-threatening high blood pressure and excess protein in the urine after 20 weeks gestation—is a leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths. These deaths are preventable, yet essential medicines and tools to treat this disorder are often unavailable in low-resource settings. The Population Council implemented a two-phase intervention involving training, mentoring, and supervising providers at secondary facilities on detection and management of PE/E patients (Phase 1), and training primary health care (PHC) providers to administer a modified loading dose of magnesium sulphate and refer women to secondary health facilities for monitoring (Phase 2). This brief describes the Population Council’s …


Changes In Household Well Being And Resilience: The Role Of Population, Family Planning And Reproductive Health In The Tuungane Project, Kristen P. Patterson Jan 2018

Changes In Household Well Being And Resilience: The Role Of Population, Family Planning And Reproductive Health In The Tuungane Project, Kristen P. Patterson

Reproductive Health

Both the family planning sector and the environmental sector will be interested in this synopsis of findings from a study of the first four years of the Tuungane integrated population, health, and environment (PHE) project in Tanzania. The objectives of the Tuungane Project are to achieve healthier families, healthier forests, and healthier fisheries, using an integrated, cross-sectoral approach. Analyses of the 2011 baseline and 2016 midline quantitative data, and additional qualitative data from 2016, measured the project’s progress and shed light on the contribution of the project interventions to building resilience, and on the links between family planning and other …


Engaging Community Women's Groups For Improved Uptake Of Antenatal Care Services In Cross River State, Nigeria: An Analysis Of Post-Intervention Findings, Salisu Mohammed Ishaku Jan 2018

Engaging Community Women's Groups For Improved Uptake Of Antenatal Care Services In Cross River State, Nigeria: An Analysis Of Post-Intervention Findings, Salisu Mohammed Ishaku

Reproductive Health

The Ending Eclampsia project seeks to understand the potential of underutilized and promising interventions that increase access to services, particularly improving community referral systems. This brief reports on a study in Nigeria’s Cross River state that aimed to test the feasibility of women’s group leaders delivering health information for pre-eclampsia and eclampsia (PE/E), referral, and other antenatal care (ANC) services to their peers, to increasing access to quality maternal and newborn health services. Women’s group findings suggest that community engagement is a critical model for information sharing and is an adaptable, acceptable model for increasing PE/E prevention and danger-sign recognition …


Findings From Post-Intervention Analysis Of Pre-Eclampsia/Eclampsia In Kogi State, Salisu Mohammed Ishaku Jan 2018

Findings From Post-Intervention Analysis Of Pre-Eclampsia/Eclampsia In Kogi State, Salisu Mohammed Ishaku

Reproductive Health

Maternal and newborn deaths due to pre-eclampsia and eclampsia (PE/E) are preventable, yet in Nigeria this is the most significant direct cause of maternal mortality. Following a landscape analysis to better understand the enormity of this problem across seven states in Nigeria, a cross-cutting intervention was implemented in Cross River, Ebonyi, and Kogi states. Researchers worked with primary healthcare (PHC) providers, policymakers, women’s groups, and community members to increase uptake of underutilized interventions and commodities for the prevention and treatment of PE/E in rural Nigeria. This brief presents study findings from Kogi state on post-intervention landscape changes in: programmatic and …


Reducing Barriers To Accessing Fistula Repair: Implementation Research In Ebonyi, Pooja Sripad, Emmanuel Nwala, Vandana Tripathi Jan 2018

Reducing Barriers To Accessing Fistula Repair: Implementation Research In Ebonyi, Pooja Sripad, Emmanuel Nwala, Vandana Tripathi

Reproductive Health

Female genital fistula is preventable and surgically treatable, but women who lack access to quality health care often live with fistula for many years. For every 1,000 births, an estimated 2.11 women develop fistula in Nigeria and despite the establishment of internationally accredited national fistula centers across the country, the majority of women live with unrepaired fistula. The Population Council, in collaboration with EngenderHealth and the Fistula Care Plus project, conducted implementation research to understand whether a comprehensive information, screening, and referral intervention reduces transportation, communication, and financial barriers to accessing preventive care, detection, and treatment of fistula in Ebonyi …


Reducing Barriers To Accessing Fistula Repair: Implementation Research In Katsina, Pooja Sripad, Emmanuel Nwala, Vandana Tripathi Jan 2018

Reducing Barriers To Accessing Fistula Repair: Implementation Research In Katsina, Pooja Sripad, Emmanuel Nwala, Vandana Tripathi

Reproductive Health

Female genital fistula is preventable and surgically treatable, but women who lack access to quality health care often live with fistula for many years. For every 1,000 births, an estimated 2.11 women develop fistula in Nigeria and despite the establishment of internationally accredited national fistula centers across the country, the majority of women live with unrepaired fistula. The Population Council, in collaboration with EngenderHealth and the Fistula Care Plus project, conducted implementation research to understand whether a comprehensive information, screening, and referral intervention reduces transportation, communication, and financial barriers to accessing preventive care, detection, and treatment of fistula in Katsina …


L’Expérience De Femmes Ayant Subi Une Grossesse Non Désirée Au Sénégal : Une Étude Qualitative, Fatou Mbow, Nafissatou Diop Jan 2017

L’Expérience De Femmes Ayant Subi Une Grossesse Non Désirée Au Sénégal : Une Étude Qualitative, Fatou Mbow, Nafissatou Diop

Reproductive Health

Au Sénégal, l’avortement n’est autorisé que lorsque la vie de la mère est menacée. Depuis 2013, le Comité de plaidoyer pour l’accès à l’avortement médicalisé au Sénégal (plus connu sous le nom de « Taskforce ») mène des activités de plaidoyer pour une révision de la loi. L’avortement est maintenant plus ouvertement discuté, mais la voix des femmes victimes de grossesse non désirée n’est pas entendue. Cette étude documente l’expérience de ces femmes pour fournir des évidences pour le plaidoyer. L’autorisation de l'avortement médicalisée contribuera à respecter les droits humains et de santé des femmes, ainsi qu’à réduire les conséquences …


A Systematic Review Of The Treatment And Management Of Pre-Eclampsia And Eclampsia In Bangladesh, Karen Kirk, Amy Dempsey Jan 2017

A Systematic Review Of The Treatment And Management Of Pre-Eclampsia And Eclampsia In Bangladesh, Karen Kirk, Amy Dempsey

Reproductive Health

By 2015, at the conclusion of the Millennium Development Goals, Bangladesh had achieved a reduction in maternal deaths, however, despite the progress, there are still between 5,000 and 6,000 maternal deaths every year, with 20 percent the result of pre-eclampsia and eclampsia (PE/E). To fully understand the key challenges, gaps, and interventions related to the prevention and treatment of PE/E at the national level, Ending Eclampsia conducted a systematic review of papers in Bangladesh published between 2000 and 2015 specifically looking at issues around the quality of care, gaps in the evidence, and barriers to accessing PE/E services. The main …


Advocating Corporate Policy Change On Women's Health And Family Planning: Lessons From The Environmental Movement, Matthew Mcfall, Carolyn Rodehau, David Wofford Jan 2017

Advocating Corporate Policy Change On Women's Health And Family Planning: Lessons From The Environmental Movement, Matthew Mcfall, Carolyn Rodehau, David Wofford

Reproductive Health

This brief presents key lessons from the environmental movement on effective strategies for driving changes in corporate policies and practices and creating new mechanisms for holding businesses accountable for environmental impacts. Corporate policies and voluntary and “soft law” standards may be unfamiliar to many women’s health advocates, but they are likely to have increasing importance in the years to come. The global health community can learn from the experience of environmentalists on how to engage businesses on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) standards and corporate practices around women’s health. The brief offers six recommendations for moving forward.


Contribution Of Contraceptive Discontinuation To Unintended Births In 36 Developing Countries, Population Council Jan 2017

Contribution Of Contraceptive Discontinuation To Unintended Births In 36 Developing Countries, Population Council

Reproductive Health

High contraceptive discontinuation results in millions of women having an unmet need for contraception. This Population Council study using data from 36 Demographic and Health Surveys shows that contraceptive discontinuation also results in millions of unintended pregnancies and births. This brief recommends attention to issues related to quality of care, such as counseling, to ensure that each woman has the method she needs/wants and uses it correctly. This will help women avoid contraceptive discontinuation and associated unmet need and unintended fertility right from the beginning. As programs become more successful, quality of care will become key to expanding contraceptive use …


Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of The Herhealth Model For Improving Sexual And Reproductive Health And Rights Knowledge And Access Of Female Garment Factory Workers In Bangladesh, Md. Irfan Hossain, Abdullah Al Mahmud Shohag, Ashish Bajracharya, Ubaidur Rob, Laura Reichenbach Jan 2017

Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of The Herhealth Model For Improving Sexual And Reproductive Health And Rights Knowledge And Access Of Female Garment Factory Workers In Bangladesh, Md. Irfan Hossain, Abdullah Al Mahmud Shohag, Ashish Bajracharya, Ubaidur Rob, Laura Reichenbach

Reproductive Health

The Population Council, under its USAID-funded Evidence Project, partnered with Bangladesh’s Business for Social Responsibility program to conduct operational research to evaluate the effectiveness of the HERhealth model for improving female factory workers’ health, and to find ways to optimize program inputs and processes to support future scale-up of the intervention. This report presents findings from a pre- and post-intervention quantitative study of female factory workers from 10 factories; a qualitative study with factory managers, service providers, and implementing partners; and self-administered retention assessments of the Peer Health Educators from six factories in Dhaka, Gazipur, and Narayanganj districts. Findings from …


Reducing Barriers To Accessing Fistula Repair: Establishing A Baseline In Katsina, Population Council Jan 2017

Reducing Barriers To Accessing Fistula Repair: Establishing A Baseline In Katsina, Population Council

Reproductive Health

As a partner on the Fistula Care Plus (FC+) project, the Population Council is conducting implementation research that tests solutions to treatment barriers. Formative research in Nigeria’s Katsina State found that a lack of knowledge among lower-level providers and women and families of how the condition occurs, where treatment is available, and the signs and symptoms of obstetric fistula, as well as transportation costs, affect women’s access to screening and repair. Baseline data reveal the necessity of a comprehensive intervention to address fistula treatment barriers in Katsina. Not only do primary healthcare providers lack adequate knowledge of fistula, referral, and …


Risk Factors For Pre-Eclampsia And Eclampsia In Cambodia, Population Council Jan 2017

Risk Factors For Pre-Eclampsia And Eclampsia In Cambodia, Population Council

Reproductive Health

Each day around the world, 830 women die from pregnancy- and childbirth-related causes. The second most common cause (after postpartum hemorrhage) is a hypertensive disorder during pregnancy, such as pre-eclampsia and eclampsia (PE/E)—life-threatening, pregnancy-induced high blood pressure and excess protein in urine—which can lead to seizures and other fatal complications. One in four preterm infants dies as a result of its mother’s PE/E. These deaths are preventable, yet essential medicines and tools to treat this disorder are often unavailable in low-resource settings. This factsheet provides a graphic overview of the data surrounding this issue with a specific focus on Cambodia.


Reducing Barriers To Accessing Fistula Repair: Establishing A Baseline In Uganda, Population Council Jan 2017

Reducing Barriers To Accessing Fistula Repair: Establishing A Baseline In Uganda, Population Council

Reproductive Health

As a partner on the Fistula Care Plus (FC+) project, the Population Council is conducting implementation research that tests solutions to treatment barriers. Formative research in Uganda found that a lack of knowledge among lower-level providers and women and families of how the condition occurs, where treatment is available, and the signs and symptoms of obstetric fistula, as well as transportation costs, affect women’s access to screening and repair. Baseline data reveal the necessity of a comprehensive intervention to address fistula treatment barriers in Uganda. Not only do primary healthcare providers lack adequate knowledge of fistula, referral, and counseling, but …


Status Of Sexual And Reproductive Health And Rights In Zambia: Contraception And Family Planning, Preventing Unsafe Abortion And Accessing Post Abortion Care, And Maternal Health, Population Council Jan 2017

Status Of Sexual And Reproductive Health And Rights In Zambia: Contraception And Family Planning, Preventing Unsafe Abortion And Accessing Post Abortion Care, And Maternal Health, Population Council

Reproductive Health

In 1994, the International Conference on Population and Development affirmed that sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) are human rights. The Government of the Republic of Zambia has fully committed to fulfilling the SRHR of all people by ratifying 11 international instruments of law. This brief is Part 1 of a three-part series entitled “Status of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Zambia,” reporting on progress, gaps, and existing challenges in SRHR. Using a human rights–based approach, the Government of Zambia and collaborators, with technical facilitation by the Population Council, conducted an assessment of the status of SRHR …


Ensuring Contraceptive Security Through Effective Supply Chains, Moazzam Ali Jan 2017

Ensuring Contraceptive Security Through Effective Supply Chains, Moazzam Ali

Reproductive Health

Establishing and maintaining well-functioning supply chains that meet the needs of public and private sectors, as well as health professionals at all levels in family planning programs, will play a critical role in reducing unmet need for modern contraception in low and middle income countries. This evidence brief identifies two evidence-based solutions to address the challenges faced by these countries: increasing the visibility of product flows and user demand, and leveraging the expertise of the private and public sector to ensure a total market approach to supply-chain management. Strengthening the capacity of public and private-sector family planning providers and managers …


Women's Perceptions And Experiences Of Family Planning By Contraceptive Methods In Kenya And Bangladesh: Preliminary Results, Kazuyo Machiyama, Joyce Mumah, Caroline W. Kabiru, George Odwe, Francis Obare, Fauzia Akhter Huda, John C. Cleland, John B. Casterline Jan 2017

Women's Perceptions And Experiences Of Family Planning By Contraceptive Methods In Kenya And Bangladesh: Preliminary Results, Kazuyo Machiyama, Joyce Mumah, Caroline W. Kabiru, George Odwe, Francis Obare, Fauzia Akhter Huda, John C. Cleland, John B. Casterline

Reproductive Health

No abstract provided.


Results From Systematic Literature Review On Pe/E In Nigeria, Amy Dempsey, Karen Kirk Jan 2017

Results From Systematic Literature Review On Pe/E In Nigeria, Amy Dempsey, Karen Kirk

Reproductive Health

Pre-eclampsia and eclampsia (PE/E), hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, are consistently cited as a leading cause of maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality in Nigeria. A recent, nationwide cross-sectional survey found that PE/E contributes to 28.2 percent of national maternal deaths. The other main contributors to maternal mortality are hemorrhage and pregnancy-related infection or sepsis. To fully understand the key challenges, gaps, and interventions related to the prevention and treatment of PE/E, the Ending Eclampsia project conducted a systematic review of papers on PE/E in Nigeria published between 2000–15. The methods, results, and recommendations are discussed in this brief.


Bangladesh: Using Strong Evidence And Strategic Collaboration To Increase Access To Menstrual Regulation With Medication, Nancy Termini Lachance, Sharif M.I. Hossain Jan 2017

Bangladesh: Using Strong Evidence And Strategic Collaboration To Increase Access To Menstrual Regulation With Medication, Nancy Termini Lachance, Sharif M.I. Hossain

Reproductive Health

Through close cooperation with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of Bangladesh, and other partners, STEP UP generated strong evidence and cultivated ongoing collaboration that contributed to policy changes and program expansions to increase access to menstrual regulation with medication (MRM). Study results demonstrate that MRM is acceptable and effective in Bangladesh, and has thus been legalized and folded into the national FP program and scaled up nationwide. However, ongoing observation and studies are still needed to understand whether the efficacy and acceptability of MRM remains the case when services are delivered at scale on a national level. Furthermore, …


Expanding Access To Integrated Family Planning Intervention Packages For Married Adolescent Girls In Urban Slums Of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Fauzia Akhter Huda, Hassan Rushekh Mahmood, Sadia Afrin, Anisuddin Ahmed, Nafis Al Haque, Bidhan Krishna Sarker Jan 2017

Expanding Access To Integrated Family Planning Intervention Packages For Married Adolescent Girls In Urban Slums Of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Fauzia Akhter Huda, Hassan Rushekh Mahmood, Sadia Afrin, Anisuddin Ahmed, Nafis Al Haque, Bidhan Krishna Sarker

Reproductive Health

This research report describes an intervention study conducted among married adolescent girls aged 15–19 years in four urban slums of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Objectives of the study were to examine the acceptability and feasibility of forming married adolescent girls’ clubs, and involving community health volunteers (Shasthya Skebikas) and marriage registrars to increase access to family planning (FP) information and services, to promote the uptake of long-acting reversible contraceptive methods, and to provide FP information to newlywed couples at the time of marriage registration. The study findings revealed that a noteworthy number of married adolescent girls received FP-related information, mostly from the …


What Do Users Really Want?, Saumya Ramarao, John Townsend, James Sailer Jan 2017

What Do Users Really Want?, Saumya Ramarao, John Townsend, James Sailer

Reproductive Health

No abstract provided.


Method-Specific Attributes That Influence Choice Of Future Contraception Among Married Women In Nairobi’S Informal Settlements, Joyce Mumah, John B. Casterline, Kazuyo Machiyama, Marylene Wamukoya, Caroline W. Kabiru, John C. Cleland Jan 2017

Method-Specific Attributes That Influence Choice Of Future Contraception Among Married Women In Nairobi’S Informal Settlements, Joyce Mumah, John B. Casterline, Kazuyo Machiyama, Marylene Wamukoya, Caroline W. Kabiru, John C. Cleland

Reproductive Health

No abstract provided.