African journal of reproductive health
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Afr J Reprod Health · Apr 2006
Outcome of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the intensive care units of a university hospital.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the demographic characteristics of patients who suffered cardiac arrest in our ICUs and to identify those factors influencing outcome after resuscitation following cardiac arrest. We reviewed the records of all patients who underwent CPR in the two ICUs at the Georg-August University Hospital Goettingen, Germany from 1 January, 1999 to 31 December, 2003. During the study period 169 patients underwent CPR and 80 of the 169 patients survived to hospital discharge, giving a survival to hospital discharge rate of 47.3%. ⋯ None of our patients with > 40 SAPS II score 24 hours after CPR survived to be discharged from the ICU. Our study showed that nearly half the patients that had cardiac arrest in our hospital ICUs had a favourable outcome despite initial rhythms that are traditionally associated with a poor outcome. This confirms that good results are achievable in these groups of patients.
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Afr J Reprod Health · Apr 2006
The challenge of improving perinatal care in settings with limited resources. Observations of midwifery practices in Mozambique.
The aim of this study was to observe and analyse midwifery care routines related to asphyxia and hypothermia during the perinatal period and to investigate the effect of an in-service education program. A direct non-participant pre- and post-intervention observation study of midwifery a performance during childbirth was conducted at a labour ward in Maputo. The observed groups consisted of 702 and 616 midwifery-attended deliveries. ⋯ The quality of midwifery care related to prevention and early detection of asphyxia and hypothermia was found to be inadequate and the intervention had no significant effect upon the midwives' performances. This could be attributed to the quality of the intervention itself or to failure of implementing managerial decisions such as transfer of partograph documentation from obstetricians to midwives. Change in professional performance does not automatically follow awareness of evidence-based midwifery practices, but requires behavioural change, which may be more difficult to achieve.
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Afr J Reprod Health · Dec 2005
An assessment of the clinical utility of routine antenatal screening of pregnant women at first clinic attendance for haemoglobin genotypes, haematocrit, ABO and Rh blood groups in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
This prospective study was designed to provide the frequencies of the haemoglobin genotypes, ABO and Rh blood groups and their effects on the haematocrit values among pregnant women in Port Harcourt. One hundred and eighty (180) pregnant women at their first clinic attendance and in their first pregnancy (parity - 0) participated in this study. The overall frequencies obtained for ABO and Rh blood groups were: 26.67% for group A, 18.33% for B, 2.22% for AB and 52.78% for O. ⋯ On the other hand, haemoglobin genotypes were found to exert significant effects on the haematocrit values (F = 8.01, P = 0.0005). No significant relationship was found to exist between age and the haematocrit values. (F = 0.91, P > 0.05). Since pregnancy in sickle cell disease is associated with morbidity, proper antenatal monitoring and counselling will be necessary to prevent fatal outcomes.
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Afr J Reprod Health · Dec 2005
Women's perceptions of pain and discomfort after childbirth in Angola.
Prophylactic treatment against postpartum haemorrhage is a widely investigated area and injection of Oxytocics has been considered as the best choice. The occurrence of postpartum pain and discomfort was studied in a population of birthing women in an overcrowded labour ward in Angola where the oxytocin-filled device Uniject was used. ⋯ The birthing women were, by and large, satisfied with the care and treatment provided, but the encounters with midwives seem to vary in quality. Further investigation is needed to elucidate parturient women's experience of postpartum pain and their perceptions of the quality of care and treatment.