Aduragbemi Banke-Thomas
Biographic Data
| ID | 200766 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Aduragbemi Banke-Thomas |
| GIVEN NAMES | Aduragbemi |
| FAMILY NAME | Banke-Thomas |
| SIGNATURE | BANKE-THOMAS A |
| AFFILIATIONS | London School of Economics and Political Science |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4449-0131 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 42 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 5 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 42 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2016 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Unpacking pathways to emergency obstetric and newborn care and associated pregnancy outcomes
Background Travel time, referral, and waiting time at health facilities contribute to delays in receiving timely treatment for obstetric emergencies. This study assessed journeys to definitive obstetric emergency care and associations between journey characteristics and pregnancy outcomes. Methods A cross-sectional study of pregnant women in emergencies was conducted across four comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care (EmONC) facilitie…
Maternal screening coverage and determinants during facility-based antenatal care in Nigeria
Integrating tuberculosis control into maternal and newborn health services during pregnancy and postpartum is an urgent priority
An overlooked burden: Tuberculosis during pregnancy and postpartum continues to be under-recognised worldwide, despite bridging two major global health priorities: tuberculosis control and maternal and newborn survival. Recent estimates suggest that approximately 239,000 women contract tuberculosis during pregnancy each year, with an additional 97,600 cases occurring postpartum, affirming that the postpartum phase should not be viewed as merely i…
Reporting maternal deaths in Anglophone West Africa
Maternal mortality is a serious public health issue globally, with countries in West Africa facing some of the highest burdens. Media reportage of maternal deaths can have a significant influence on public health policy. We conducted a content analysis of digital media across the five Anglophone West African countries (The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone) to understand what is reported about maternal deaths and how they are repo…
Birth Travellers Seeking Childbirth and Birthright Citizenship in Canada and the United States of America
Canada and the United States (USA) are top destinations for women travelling abroad for childbirth. However, end-to-end experiences of non-resident women travelling to seek childbirth and birthright citizenship in these destination countries are not fully understood, more so amongst Nigerian women, amongst whom the practice is particularly common. This study sought to address this gap in the literature. Twenty-five Nigerian women who had children…
Beyond proximity
INTRODUCTION: Stillbirths are disproportionately concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa, where geographical accessibility to basic/comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care (BEmONC and CEmONC) significantly influences maternal and perinatal outcomes. This study describes stillbirth rates within healthcare facilities in The Gambia and examines their distribution in relation to the geographical accessibility of these facilities. METHODS: We an…
Abortion and well-being
“Well-being” is utilised in multiple ways – an everyday word, a component of health, a policy objective, reflecting a diverse set of shifting meanings, conceptualisations, definitions, measurements, and theorising. Influenced by structural and social conditions, well-being can be enhanced or diminished and is experienced at a range of scales (individual, community, society). Globally, abortion is a common practice with implications for well-being…
Unravelling the conundrums of social autopsy for maternal mortality in low- and middle-income countries
Any meaningful effort to tackle maternal mortality in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) needs to be founded on a robust understanding of its causes. In LMICs, verbal autopsies are used to determine the clinical causes of death through interviews with the deceased person’s next-of-kin or caregivers. In addition, social autopsies have been conducted to allow capture of the story behind the death, enabling a comprehensive understanding of the…
In response to letter to the editor
Child undernutrition and its association with household environmental conditions in Bangladesh
Objective: Undernutrition among children under the age of five years is a prevalent global issue, especially in Bangladesh. This study aimed to explore the relationships of household environmental conditions (HECs) with child undernutrition in Bangladesh, with a specific focus on rural–urban variations. Design: We analysed children’s data from the 2017/18 Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey. The outcome variable considered were measures of child…
Global burden and strength of evidence for 88 risk factors in 204 countries and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021
BACKGROUND: Understanding the health consequences associated with exposure to risk factors is necessary to inform public health policy and practice. To systematically quantify the contributions of risk factor exposures to specific health outcomes, the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 aims to provide comprehensive estimates of exposure levels, relative health risks, and attributable burden of disease for 88 ri…
Motivations for and experiences of childbirth abroad amongst Nigerian women
Birth tourism, the practice of a woman travelling out of her country of residence to another country to give birth, is common globally. Despite this, there is limited literature on the motivations and experiences of women who gave birth abroad. This study aims to address this gap by seeking to understand the motivations for and experiences of childbirth abroad among Nigerian women. Using purposive and snowball sampling, 27 Nigerian women who had …
A systematic review of behaviour change interventions to improve maternal health outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa
The rate of decline in the global burden of avoidable maternal deaths has stagnated and remains an issue of concern in many sub-Saharan Africa countries. As per the most recent evidence, an average maternal mortality ratio (MMR) of 223 deaths per 100,000 live births has been estimated globally, with sub-Saharan Africa’s average MMR at 536 per 100,000 live births—more than twice the global average. Despite the high MMR, there is variation in MMR b…
Influence of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting on Health Morbidity, Health Service Utilization and Satisfaction with Care among Somali Women and Teenage Girls in the United States
Effectiveness of the Gratuité user fee exemption policy on utilization and outcomes of maternal, newborn and child health services in conflict-affected districts of Burkina Faso from 2013 to 2018
Our study shows that, even in conflict-affected areas, the Gratuité policy significantly influences MNCH service utilization. There is a strong case for continued funding of the user fee exemption policy to ensure that gains are not reversed, especially if the conflict ceases to abate
Wealth-based inequality in the continuum of maternal health service utilisation in 16 sub-Saharan African countries
Addressing the coverage gap in maternal continuum of care in SSA using multidimensional and people-centred approaches remains a key strategy needed to realise the SDG3. The pro-rich wealth-based inequalities observed show that bespoke pro-poor or population-wide approaches are needed
Leveraging big data for improving the estimation of close to reality travel time to obstetric emergency services in urban low- and middle-income settings
Maternal and perinatal mortality remain huge challenges globally, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where >98% of these deaths occur. Emergency obstetric care (EmOC) provided by skilled health personnel is an evidence-based package of interventions effective in reducing these deaths associated with pregnancy and childbirth. Until recently, pregnant women residing in urban areas have been considered to have good access to ca…
A mixed-methods study of maternal health care utilisation in six referral hospitals in four sub-Saharan African countries before and during the Covid-19 pandemic
INTRODUCTION: In sub-Saharan Africa, referral hospitals are important sources of key maternal health services, especially during a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This study prospectively assessed the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on maternal health service utilisation in six large referral hospitals in Guinea, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda during the first year of the pandemic. METHODS: Mixed-methods design combining three data sources: (…
Travel of pregnant women in emergency situations to hospital and maternal mortality in Lagos, Nigeria
INTRODUCTION: Prompt access to emergency obstetrical care (EmOC) reduces the risk of maternal mortality. We assessed institutional maternal mortality by distance and travel time for pregnant women with obstetrical emergencies in Lagos State, Nigeria. METHODS: We conducted a facility-based retrospective cohort study across 24 public hospitals in Lagos. Reviewing case notes of the pregnant women presenting between 1 November 2018 and 30 October 201…
A tale of 22 cities
INTRODUCTION: Globally, the majority of births happen in urban areas. Ensuring that women and their newborns benefit from a complete package of high-quality care during pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period present specific challenges in large cities. We examine health service utilisation and content of care along the maternal continuum of care (CoC) in 22 large African cities. METHODS: 1 million inhabitants in 2015. Women with live birt…
‘We are not going to shut down, because we cannot postpone pregnancy’
INTRODUCTION: Referral hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa are located in crowded urban areas, which were often epicentres of the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper prospectively assesses how maternal healthcare was provided in six referral hospitals in Guinea, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Mixed-methods design using three data sources: (1) qualitative data from repeated rounds of semi-structured int…
Use of motorised transport and pathways to childbirth care in health facilities
In Nigeria, 59% of pregnant women deliver at home, despite evidence about the benefits of childbirth in health facilities. While different modes of transport can be used to access childbirth care, motorised transport guarantees quicker transfer compared to non-motorised forms. Our study uses the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) to describe the pathways to childbirth care and the determinants of using motorised transport to reach …
Individual, health facility and wider health system factors contributing to maternal deaths in Africa
The number of women dying during pregnancy and after childbirth remains unacceptably high, with African countries showing the slowest decline. The leading causes of maternal deaths in Africa are preventable direct obstetric causes such as haemorrhage, infection, hypertension, unsafe abortion, and obstructed labour. There is an information gap on factors contributing to maternal deaths in Africa. Our objective was to identify these contributing fa…
Influence of travel time and distance to the hospital of care on stillbirths
INTRODUCTION: Access to emergency obstetric care can lead to a 45%-75% reduction in stillbirths. However, before a pregnant woman can access this care, she needs to travel to a health facility. Our objective in this study was to assess the influence of distance and travel time to the actual hospital of care on stillbirth. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study of pregnant women who presented with obstetric emergencies over a …
“In cities, it’s not far, but it takes long”
BACKGROUND: 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. METHODS: We extracted data from patient files of all 732 pregnant women who presented in emergency in the four p…
Avoiding obstetrical interventions among US-based Somali migrant women
Objective: Somali refugee women are known to have poor health-seeking behavior with a higher proportion of adverse pregnancy outcomes compared to US-born women. Yet unknown is how they avoid obstetrical interventions. This study sought to identify perceived protective mechanisms used to avoid obstetric interventions as well as the underpinning factors that influence aversion to obstetrical interventions by Somali refugee women. Design: A descript…
What about the issues in using social return on investment as an evaluation tool
Letter to the Editor and response to article entitled “Issues in using social return on investment as an evaluation tool” by Muyambi et al. published in the Evaluation Journal of Australasia
Assessing emergency obstetric care provision in low- and middle-income countries
Opinion of women on emergency obstetric care provided in public facilities in Lagos, Nigeria
Limited attention has been given to opinions of women receiving emergency obstetric care (EmOC) in developing countries. We organized focus groups with 39 women who received this care from Lagos public facilities. Availability of competent personnel and equipment were two positive opinions highlighted. Contrarily, women expressed concerns regarding the seeming unresponsiveness of the service to nonmedical aspects of care, associated stress of ser…
Factors Associated with Access to Maternal and Reproductive Health Care among Somali Refugee Women Resettled in Ohio, United States
What about the issues in using social return on investment as an evaluation tool
Letter to the Editor and response to article entitled “Issues in using social return on investment as an evaluation tool” by Muyambi et al. published in the Evaluation Journal of Australasia
Assessing geographical distribution and accessibility of emergency obstetric care in sub-Saharan Africa
Avoiding obstetrical interventions among US-based Somali migrant women
Objective: Somali refugee women are known to have poor health-seeking behavior with a higher proportion of adverse pregnancy outcomes compared to US-born women. Yet unknown is how they avoid obstetrical interventions. This study sought to identify perceived protective mechanisms used to avoid obstetric interventions as well as the underpinning factors that influence aversion to obstetrical interventions by Somali refugee women. Design: A descript…
Voices from the frontline
INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic has substantially impacted maternity care provision worldwide. Studies based on modelling estimated large indirect effects of the pandemic on services and health outcomes. The objective of this study was to prospectively document experiences of frontline maternal and newborn healthcare providers. METHODS: We conducted a global, cross-sectional study of maternal and newborn health professionals via an online sur…
The cost of maternal health services in low-income and middle-income countries from a provider’s perspective
‘I guess we have to treat them, but … ’
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. We purposively sampled 18 HCPs and used a semi-structured to…
Appraising and addressing design and implementation failure in global health
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. These efforts have led to the develo…
Assessing and decomposing inequality of opportunity in access to child health and nutrition in sub-Saharan Africa
The results show that there are efforts in some places to promote access to health and nutrition services in order to make access equal without distinction linked to the socio-economic and demographic characteristics in which the children live. However, the inequalities of opportunity observed between the children of the most favorable group and those of the least favorable group, remain in general at significant levels and call on government of …
Too poor or too far? Partitioning the variability of hospital-based childbirth by poverty and travel time in Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria and Tanzania
Both poverty and long travel time are important determinants of hospital birth, although they vary in the extent to which they influence whether women give birth in a hospital within and across countries. This suggests that different strategies are needed to effectively enable poor women and women living in remote areas to gain access to skilled and adequate care for childbirth
Influence of travel time and distance to the hospital of care on stillbirths
INTRODUCTION: Access to emergency obstetric care can lead to a 45%-75% reduction in stillbirths. However, before a pregnant woman can access this care, she needs to travel to a health facility. Our objective in this study was to assess the influence of distance and travel time to the actual hospital of care on stillbirth. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study of pregnant women who presented with obstetric emergencies over a …
“In cities, it’s not far, but it takes long”
BACKGROUND: 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. METHODS: We extracted data from patient files of all 732 pregnant women who presented in emergency in the four p…
Evaluating the design and implementation fidelity of an adapted Plan-Do-Study-Act approach to improve health system performance in a Nigerian state
This study demonstrates how both adaptation and implementation fidelity are important for success of QI interventions. It also presents an approach for evaluating other QI models using Taylor's PDSA assessment framework as a guide, which might serve to strengthen the theory behind future QI models and provide guidance on their appropriate use
From Ebola to Covid-19
BACKGROUND: Lagos state is the industrial nerve centre of Nigeria and was the epicentre of the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Nigeria as it is now for the current Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) outbreak. This paper describes how the lessons learned from the Ebola outbreak in 2014 informed the emergency preparedness of the State ahead of the COVID-19 outbreak and guided response. DISCUSSION: Following the Ebola outbreak in 2014, the Lagos State government…
Use of modern contraceptives in Lagos Nigeria during the Covid-19 pandemic
We estimated modern contraceptive prevalence rate (mCPR) and examined predictors of modern contraceptives utilization amongst 1,445 sampled reproductive age women in Lagos (Nigeria's epicenter) during the devastating COVID-19 pandemic. Estimated mCPR was 30.8%. Women aged 20-29 years were 50% (95%CI:0.37-0.71) less likely to use modern contraceptives during the pandemic than those 30-39 years. Married and divorced women were about three (95%CI:1.…
An assessment of geographical access and factors influencing travel time to emergency obstetric care in the urban state of Lagos, Nigeria
Previous efforts to estimate the travel time to comprehensive emergency obstetric care (CEmOC) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have either been based on spatial models or self-reported travel time, both with known inaccuracies. The study objectives were to estimate more realistic travel times for pregnant women in emergency situations using Google Maps, determine system-level factors that influence travel time and use these estimates …
Patterns, travel to care and factors influencing obstetric referral
The criticality of referral makes it imperative to study its patterns and factors influencing it at a health systems level. This study of referral in Lagos, Nigeria is based on health records of 4181 pregnant women who presented with obstetric emergencies at one of the 24 comprehensive emergency obstetric care (EmOC) facilities in the state between November 2018 and October 2019 complemented with distance and time data extracted from Google Maps.…
Leveraging big data for improving the estimation of close to reality travel time to obstetric emergency services in urban low- and middle-income settings
Maternal and perinatal mortality remain huge challenges globally, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where >98% of these deaths occur. Emergency obstetric care (EmOC) provided by skilled health personnel is an evidence-based package of interventions effective in reducing these deaths associated with pregnancy and childbirth. Until recently, pregnant women residing in urban areas have been considered to have good access to ca…
A mixed-methods study of maternal health care utilisation in six referral hospitals in four sub-Saharan African countries before and during the Covid-19 pandemic
INTRODUCTION: In sub-Saharan Africa, referral hospitals are important sources of key maternal health services, especially during a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This study prospectively assessed the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on maternal health service utilisation in six large referral hospitals in Guinea, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda during the first year of the pandemic. METHODS: Mixed-methods design combining three data sources: (…
Travel of pregnant women in emergency situations to hospital and maternal mortality in Lagos, Nigeria
INTRODUCTION: Prompt access to emergency obstetrical care (EmOC) reduces the risk of maternal mortality. We assessed institutional maternal mortality by distance and travel time for pregnant women with obstetrical emergencies in Lagos State, Nigeria. METHODS: We conducted a facility-based retrospective cohort study across 24 public hospitals in Lagos. Reviewing case notes of the pregnant women presenting between 1 November 2018 and 30 October 201…
A tale of 22 cities
INTRODUCTION: Globally, the majority of births happen in urban areas. Ensuring that women and their newborns benefit from a complete package of high-quality care during pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period present specific challenges in large cities. We examine health service utilisation and content of care along the maternal continuum of care (CoC) in 22 large African cities. METHODS: 1 million inhabitants in 2015. Women with live birt…
‘We are not going to shut down, because we cannot postpone pregnancy’
INTRODUCTION: Referral hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa are located in crowded urban areas, which were often epicentres of the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper prospectively assesses how maternal healthcare was provided in six referral hospitals in Guinea, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Mixed-methods design using three data sources: (1) qualitative data from repeated rounds of semi-structured int…
Use of motorised transport and pathways to childbirth care in health facilities
In Nigeria, 59% of pregnant women deliver at home, despite evidence about the benefits of childbirth in health facilities. While different modes of transport can be used to access childbirth care, motorised transport guarantees quicker transfer compared to non-motorised forms. Our study uses the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) to describe the pathways to childbirth care and the determinants of using motorised transport to reach …
Medicine (29 works) · Global Maternal and Child Health (26 works) · Environmental health (21 works) · Nursing (18 works) · Pregnancy (16 works) · Public health (15 works) · Population (14 works) · Geography (12 works) · Demography (11 works) · Family medicine (11 works)