Abstract: Background: Congenital abnormalities are defects present at birth and are increasingly becoming an important cause of neonatal mortality. They can also result in disability in majority of the survivors. Objective: To describe the pattern and outcome of major congenital abnormalities (MCA) in a tertiary hospital in Lagos, Nigeria. Methods: The labour ward and labour ward theatre delivery records and admission records of the in-born ward of the neonatal unit of a tertiary hospital w...
Abstract Attendance at antenatal clinic during pregnancy and delivery in health facilities by skilled birth attendants have been shown to reduce the incidence of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. Despite efforts by the Namibian government through the Ministry of Health and Social Services to promote delivery at health facilities by pregnant women, many women still deliver at home resulting in high maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity in the country. Factors that influenc...
ABSTRACT Background: The quality of maternal healthcare women receive during pregnancy and delivery has attracted global attention. However, tools and empirical studies on quality of maternal healthcare women receive are lacking in many low-income settings including Ghana. Available literature shows that many of the current assessment tools are provider driven, focusing mainly on clinical care aspect of quality without considering clients' perspectives. This study aimed to fill these knowled...
ABSTRACT In sub-Saharan Africa, several hundreds of pregnancies are exposed to both malaria and HIV infections annually. Consequences of these infections include maternal anemia, immunosuppression, preterm delivery, low birth weight, low Apgar score, and cord malaria. Unfortunately, these infections in relation to these adverse outcomes are not well characterized in Ghana. This study determined whether maternal malaria and HIV infections during pregnancy are associated with increased risk of...
ABSTRACT This research study aimed to bring about greater insight into the topic of bereavement, especially with regards to children and adolescents. Questions that were answered included: How and why do people grieve? How can one help a person to cope with his/her grief? How do children grieve, and is it different from adults' grief? What do adults understand by children’s reactions to loss? The sample population was pre-defined according to the following characteristics. Primary and secon...
Background: Despite over three decades of HIV, its prevalence especially among adolescents remains a public health concern. In 2015, there were more than two million adolescents living with HIV, with a higher proportion coming from sub-Sahara Africa. In Cameroon, there are over 40,000 adolescents living with HIV and there are still concerns about the provision of care to them as adolescents are trapped between paediatric and adult services which are unable to address their specific needs. How...
The effect of pregnancy associated malaria (PAM) differs according to the level of malaria endemicity and the level of immunity to infection acquired by pregnant woman. Generally the incidence as well as severity of PAM is parity-linked. Immunologically naive primigravid women are at greater risk compared to multigravidae who have some level of immunity against the specific malaria parasites which colonize the placenta.
Introduction Globally. 2.6 million stillbirths are recorded annually 50% occur during labour (intrapartum). Ghana records 11,000 stillbirths annually and 40% occur during labour. The Greater Accra Region records 2000 stillbirths annually: 40 % of them occur intrapartum. An understanding of the contributory factors will facilitate the development of preventive strategies to reduce the huge numbers of intrapartum stillbirths
ABSTRACT Smoking is a major risk factor for non-communicable diseases and remains a significant public health challenge in many lower and middle income countries (LMIC). Inspite that smoking cessation (SC) pharmacotherapy significantly reduces poor outcome, access to smoking cessation services in medical practice in Namibia is unknown. The study aims to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practice of SC pharmacotherapy among medical doctors in Khomas region, Namibia. A cross-sectional analyti...
ABSTRACT A quality improvement training programme is important to address the challenges that the health professionals are facing in their quest for quality health care delivery. In Namibia, most health care facilities have not been yielding good results in response to patients’ health care needs. Health care dynamics are complex and inundated with several factors; among others new methods, speed of improving medical science and technology, as well as increasing demands of the clients to ad...
ABSTRACT There is silence on Namibian families who have a member with Down syndrome (DS). Hence, research is needed regarding the experiences, stress and well-being of families who are caregivers of a family member with Down syndrome. This is important to parents who begin their married lives with a Down syndrome child in the family since it will provide them with a balanced perspective of what to expect. In addition, most studies on the experiences of caring for a Down syndrome were conducte...
ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to explore life crises prevalence of both employed and unemployed early adults in Windhoek, Namibia, by comparing differences in life crisis reporting between them. The study also aimed to determine gender differences in life crisis experiences of early adults, if any, and also the areas in which life crisis was most experienced. Guided by a quantitative approach, an Adult Crisis Episode Retrospective Self-Assessment Tool (ACERSAT) was used to collect the da...
ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between age at first diagnosis and outcomes of women treated of breast cancer at Windhoek central hospital between 2009 and 2011 and to describe and compare the outcomes of young and older patients in relation to socio-demographic and clinical factors. The study was a retrospective cohort study involving a document review of 334 women diagnosed and treated of breast cancer at Windhoek central hospital between 2009 and 2011. P...
ABSTRACT This descriptive quantitative study was conducted out at Oshakati State Hospital. The purpose of the study was to assess the nursing care rendered to women who later died due to pregnancy related problems during 2001 – 2002 in Oshakati State Hospital. Thirty one clinical records of women who later died due to pregnancy related problems during 2001 – 2002 were evaluated. The checklist was used for document analysis. Data was analyzed through statistical analysis and presented as d...
ABSTRACT Clinical nursing education is crucial for the education and training of the pupil enrolled nurse and midwife in Namibia. The training is structured around essential nursing skills, knowledge about and attitudes towards general nursing and normal midwifery as well as the practice of actual nursing care in a safe and competent way under the supervision of a registered nurse. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of and challenges faced by pupil enrolled ...