Abstract
Objectives To assess the trends concerning utilisation of maternal and child health (MCH) services before, during and after the Ebola outbreak, quantifying the contribution of a reorganised referral system (RS).
Design A prospective observational study of MCH services.
Setting Pujehun district in Sierra Leone, 77 community health facilities and 1 hospital from 2012 to 2017.
Main outcome measures MCH utililization was evaluated by assessing: (1) institutional deliveries, Cesarean-sections, paediatric and maternity admissions and deaths, and major direct obstetric complications (MDOCs), at hospital level; (2) antenatal care (ANC) 1 and 4, institutional delivery and family planning, at community level. Contribution of a strengthened RS was also measured.
Results At hospital level, there is a significant difference between trends Ebola versus pre-Ebola for maternal admissions (7, 95%CI 4 to 11, p
Conclusions A stronger health system compared with other districts in Sierra Leone and a strengthened RS enabled health facilities in Pujehun to maintain service provision and uptake during and after the Ebola epidemic.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 029093 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | BMJ Open |
Volume | 9 |
Issue number | 9 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Sept 2019 |
Keywords
- paediatrics
- public health
- community gynaecology
- EMERGENCY OBSTETRIC CARE
- VIRUS DISEASE
- MORTALITY
- EPIDEMIC
- LESSONS