My publications

Reproductive Maternal and Newborn Health Providers’ Assessment of Facility Preparedness and Its Determinants during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Lagos, Nigeria

The global COVID-19 pandemic is predicted to compromise the achievement of global reproductive, maternal, and newborn health (RMNH) targets. The objective of this study was to determine the health facility (HF) preparedness for RMNH service delivery during the outbreak from the perspective of RMNH providers and to determine what factors significantly predict this. An anonymous cross-sectional online survey of RMNH providers was conducted from to July 1–21, 2020 in Lagos State, Nigeria.

Challenges in access and satisfaction with reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health services in Nigeria during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional survey

The presence of COVID-19 has led to the disruption of health systems globally, including essential reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH) services. This study aimed to assess the challenges faced by women who used RMNCH services in Nigeria’s epicentre, their satisfaction with care received during the COVID-19 pandemic and the factors associated with their satisfaction.

Evaluating the design and implementation fidelity of an adapted Plan-Do-Study-Act approach to improve health system performance in a Nigerian state

The Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle is fundamental to many quality improvement (QI) models. For the approach to be effective in the real-world, variants must align with standard elements of the PDSA. This study evaluates the alignment between theory, design and implementation fidelity of a PDSA variant adapted for Nigeria’s health system performance improvement.

“In cities, it’s not far, but it takes long”: comparing estimated and replicated travel times to reach life-saving obstetric care in Lagos, Nigeria

Travel time to comprehensive emergency obstetric care (CEmOC) facilities in low-resource settings is commonly estimated using modelling approaches. Our objective was to derive and compare estimates of travel time to reach CEmOC in an African megacity using models and web-based platforms against actual replication of travel.

Utilization cost of maternity services for childbirth among pregnant women with coronavirus disease 2019 in Nigeria’s epicenter

Despite cost exemptions and donations, utilization costs remain prohibitive. Regulation of personal protective equipment and medical oxygen supply chains and expansion of advocacy for health insurance enrollments are needed in order to minimize catastrophic health expenditure.

Reaching health facilities in situations of emergency: qualitative study capturing experiences of pregnant women in Africa’s largest megacity

The consequences of delays in travel of pregnant women to reach facilities in emergency situations are well documented in literature. However, their decision-making and actual experiences of travel to health facilities when requiring emergency obstetric care (EmOC) remains a ‘black box’ of many unknowns to the health system, more so in megacities of low- and middle-income countries which are fraught with wide inequalities.

Appraising and addressing design and implementation failure in global health: A pragmatic framework

There have been recent concerns about the failure of several global health interventions. Interventions are considered to have failed when they are unable to achieve the intended results. Failure may be linked to how the intervention was designed (design failure) or how it was implemented (implementation failure). Recently, substantial efforts have been employed to improve the outcomes of health interventions.

Assessing and decomposing inequality of opportunity in access to child health and nutrition in sub-Saharan Africa: evidence from three countries with low human development index

Inequality of opportunity in health and nutrition is a major public health issue in the developing regions. This study analyzed the patterns and extent of inequality of opportunity in health and nutrition among children under-five across three countries sub-Saharan Africa with low Human development index (HDI).

There is no ideal place, but it is best to deliver in a hospital: expectations and experiences of health facility-based childbirth in Imo State, Nigeria

annually, about 67,000 of the 196,000 maternal deaths in sub-Saharan Africa occur in Nigeria, second only to India. Though health facility childbirths have been linked with improved health outcomes, evidence suggests that experiences of care influence future use. This study explored the expectations and experiences of health facility childbirths for mothers in Imo State, Nigeria.

“Leaving no one behind” also includes taking the elderly along concerning their sexual and reproductive health and rights: a new focus for Reproductive Health

It is now well established that the world’s population is ageing, and has been doing so rapidly in the last century. According to the United Nations, as of 1950, there were an estimated 205 million people aged 60 years or over living in the world. More recently, that number had almost quintupled, with the 2017 estimate put at 962 million

‘I guess we have to treat them, but horizontal ellipsis’: health care provider perspectives on the management of women presenting with unsafe abortion in Botswana

Maternal mortality due to unsafe abortion and its complications stands among the three leading causes of maternal death in Botswana. Health care providers (HCPs) including doctors and nurses are at the frontline of providing care to women who have had an unsafe abortion. This qualitative study explored the knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of HCPs towards unsafe abortion in Botswana.

Too poor or too far? Partitioning the variability of hospital-based childbirth by poverty and travel time in Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria and Tanzania

In sub-Saharan Africa, women are most likely to receive skilled and adequate childbirth care in hospital settings, yet the use of hospital for childbirth is low and inequitable. The poorest and those living furthest away from a hospital are most affected. But the relative contribution of poverty and travel time is convoluted, since hospitals are often located in wealthier urban places and are scarcer in poorer remote area. This study aims to partition the variability in hospital-based childbirth by poverty and travel time in four sub-Saharan African countries.