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This study was aimed to evaluate the implementation of an integrated antenatal care (ANC) scheme through a retrospective document study using a checklist for measuring the adequacy of the cohort ANC register documented by midwives in an urban area and to describe the barriers for the midwives during the ANC record process.

An exploratory descriptive study using a sequential mixed method was utilised where a quantitative method was employed by collecting secondary data of 150 entries of the cohort ANC register and followed by in-depth interviews among midwives and community health workers.

The results show that the cohort registry indicators for integrated care such as laboratory and management were poorly recorded. Several barriers were found and categorised during the implementation of the integrated ANC, namely (1) governance and strategy, (2) process of care, (3) organisation and management support.

The contribution of this present research is that it provides empirical data of the integrated ANC implementation in primary health care (PHC) which has the responsibility to deliver an integrated level of care for ANC using a cohort registry for pregnancy registration monitoring which facilitates the continuity and quality of care.

Practical implication of the finding is that functional integration such as the clinical information system to facilitate an efficient and effective approach during the implementation of integrated ANC in primary care should be considered to support the clinical, professional, organisational, system and normative integration.

Since only limited studies have been conducted to assess the quality of the cohort ANC registry and to investigate the barriers against integrated ANC implementation in Indonesia, the research findings are valuable information for the national and local governments to improve the ANC service in Indonesia.

The aim of this paper is to examine biological, maternal and socioeconomic determinants of infant mortality in Sierra Leone.

It uses an analytical framework and Cox proportional hazards regression to break down the effects of factors determining infant mortality. Factors utilized in the empirical investigation include sex of the child, birth size, birth spacing, mother's working status, age of mother, antenatal care, postnatal care, mother's anemia level, religion, mother's education and wealth status.

Results suggest that birth spacing of three years and above associated with a reduced risk of infant mortality contrasted with short birth intervals. Children born to nonanemic mothers have a lower hazard (22%) of infant mortality compared to those born to anemic mothers (HR = 0.78; 95% CI: 0.64–0.96). At least one antenatal care visit by mothers lowers infant mortality rate by 41% compared to no antenatal visits at all ( HR = 0.59; 95% CI: 0.36–0.96). Similarly, infants whose mothers have received postnatal care are at lower risk (31%) of dying than those whose mothers have not received (HR = 0.69; 95% CI: 0.52, 0.93). Infant mortality is likely to decrease with the increase in the birth order.

The family health and planning programs should aim at educating men and women about the usefulness of birth spacing methods.

This paper might be the first attempt to analyze the determinants of infant mortality by utilizing a methodological framework and Cox regression.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-08-2019-0478.

Seeks to assess maternity care for women with Type 1 diabetes in relation to recommendations in a national clinical guideline using a criterion‐based clinical audit. The audit covered all 22 consultant‐led maternity units in Scotland, focusing on 268 completed pregnancies in women with Type 1 diabetes. Results are presented and discussed. Concludes that a national audit to monitor the impact of clinical guidelines proved feasible. Antenatal care is organised in line with guideline recommendations but there is lower provision of formal prepregnancy care. Pregnancy planning and periconceptual care fall short of recommendations but care during pregnancy is meticulous. Adverse pregnancy outcomes remain commoner than in non‐diabetic pregnancies.

A fictionalised case report is used to highlight the author's experience of antenatal screening for Down's syndrome in a primary care setting. The case of a Bangladeshi woman who has a strongly positive result for a screening test for which she has not given informed consent is examined from several different ethical standpoints. The dilemma posed by the case is resolved using a narrative ethical approach.

Neonatal healthcare is a critical issue in public health management. The purpose of this paper is to analyze neonatal health in South Asia. This paper specifically examines the neonatal period of an infant's development, the time from birth to the first 28 days, and the importance of providing each newborn with the necessary vaccines, treatments, and care they may require. In addition to examining neonatal health and those diseases/problems that afflict children without proper care, a closer look will be taken at Southern Asia, where research shows nearly 75 percent of the neonatal deaths that take place in the world, occur.

An extensive literature review using recently published works, government documents, and organizational reports is employed. The research is based on case studies of six South Asian countries and several international participating agencies and non‐governmental organizations working on the improvement of neonatal health.

The research shows that the majority of the countries in this region lack the funds necessary to provide aide, health services, and other preventative care to their populations. Without the global attention, intervention, and resources provided by these organizations, any progress made in the area of neonatal health in these regions will continue to be hampered. A social marketing framework designed to address this critical public health challenge is presented.

In the modern world, much advancement has been made in terms of neonatal and maternal health and well‐being. As the years have passed, the world has seen many improvements on clinical procedures, health policies and regulations, the quality of training for doctors, nurses, and related specialists, and the various pieces of medical equipment used throughout those hospitals and clinics located within the developing world. Unfortunately, data provided by various research efforts have shown that neonatal mortality continues to occur at high rates throughout countries in South Asia. Individuals in these countries lack access to health care, health education, and other essential components that influence a mother's ability to produce a healthy child and keep that child safe and illness/issue free throughout this fragile period.

The House of Commons Select Committee Report (1992), and more recently the Changing Childbirth report (1993), suggest that the lack of continuity experienced by women and professionals within the traditional system of maternity care is no longer appropriate nor desirable. Informs the reader how Scunthorpe Maternity Services had already recognized the need to reduce fragmentation and raise standards and how a strategy was developed, in response to these deficiencies, which planned to replace the traditional model of care with one of integrated team midwifery. Also describes the process undertaken in the transformation of services, highlights the impact of such changes on the midwives and midwifery practice and discusses developments for future consideration.

A criticism of using women’s views as an assessment of the maternity services in the UK is that the views of some have been under‐represented and inappropriately researched, in particular those from minority ethnic groups. In addition, there is criticism that “what” has been assessed within the maternity services, and other health‐care arenas, has been driven by the perspective of those who provide the service rather than those who use it. The purpose here is to explore integrating Pakistani and indigenous “white” women’s views with the Donabedian‐Maxwell grid, as a means of offering a consumer‐focused template for underpinning quality assessment and quality assurance strategies for the maternity services in the UK.

The purpose of this study was to assess the nutritional behavior regarding the frequency of consumption of the main types of food by pregnant women attending antenatal classes in comparison to non-attendees.

A questionnaire survey was conducted in Poland among 200 women in the first pregnancy, 100 of whom were attending antenatal classes and 100 were non-attendees.

Women attending antenatal classes exhibited more favorable health-related nutritional behaviors in comparison with those not attending. Attendees eat more vegetables and milk products whereas non-attendees declared more processed meat and sweets consumption. Three-fourth of non-attendees and two-fourth of attendees considered their diet as good. It was also found that the level of physical activity of pregnant women attending antenatal classes was significantly higher than among those who did not attend such classes.

A limitation of the study was that it took place in Poland and voices from women of other European countries as well as diverse ethnicities were not represented. In addition, women were interviewed only during their pregnancy, and therefore it was not possible to investigate women's nutritional behaviors after delivery.

This research shows clearly that attending antenatal classes may involve with a beneficial effect on the nutritional behavior of pregnant women. It is expected that once established healthy nutritional habits should be practiced further.

This research is the indication of the important role of antenatal classes in developing more favorable health-related dietary behavior expressed by the participants. To our knowledge in Poland, it is the first time that the nutritional behavior of pregnant women attending and not attending antenatal classes were examined and compared. So far in Poland, the extent and type of nutritional education received by pregnant women across antenatal care has not been examined. This research can contribute to a broader recognition of nutritional knowledge and practice of pregnant women important for the health of mother and her baby.

States that the traditional model of obstetricians seeing all pregnant women and directing their care is changing due to a recognised need for anaesthetists to provide, good, high‐quality information on pregnant women and the development of midwifery‐led care. Presents the “pathway” of care which has undergone a 12‐month study period involving 3,500 pregnant women. Concludes that the results from the study reveal important gaps in the service, but that the pathway of care has produced benefits for all professional groups involved.

The purpose of this paper was to examine rural women’s perceived quality of antenatal care (ANC) and its influence on the extent of ANC in the Amansie Central District in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.

A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted with 120 women attending postnatal care at selected public health facilities. Structured interviews were used to obtain data. Crude odds ratio with 95% confidence interval (CI) was generated to determine the odds of women’s utilisation of ANC with their perceived service quality. The association between women’s background characteristics and ANC use was determined and assessed using Pearson’s χ² (2) test.

Majority of the women (58.3 percent) utilised ANC for at least four times during pregnancy. Women’s education (p=0.027), religious affiliation (p=0.006), source of income (p=0.012) and insurance status (p=0.023) all had a positive relationship with ANC use. Women who perceived ANC quality as good were three times more likely to have four or more ANC visits than those who perceived quality as poor (OR= 3.042, 95% CI=0.181–0.647, p=0.001).

Ghana has had numerous policy interventions that address the accessibility and quality of ANC service. However, little is known about the extent to which they are observed and about the quality of service from users’ perspective. Most existing literature on ANC use in Ghana focusses on socio-economic factors that influence utilisation. This paper will be the first to examine the perceived quality of ANC provided, and its influence on the extent of ANC visits among rural women in Ghana.