Columba Mbekenga
Dados Biográficos
| ID | 100693 |
|---|---|
| NOME | Columba Mbekenga |
| PRENOMES | Columba |
| SOBRENOME | Mbekenga |
| ASSINATURA | MBEKENGA C |
| AFILIAÇÕES | Aga Khan University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3322-4057 |
| VERIFICADO | Sim |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 16 |
| TOTAL DE CITAÇÕES | 7 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 16 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMEIRO ANO DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2013 |
| ANO MAIS RECENTE DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 1 |
Collective coping work among healthcare providers navigating the precarities of an overburdened maternity facility in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
This study examines collective coping among birth attendants, managers, and pregnant women in an overburdened urban maternity facility in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Drawing on three months of ethnographic research, including participant observations and interviews, we explore how birth attendants navigate systemic challenges in a low-resource setting. Using thematic network analysis, we found that collective coping involved modifying care practices…
The Dilemmas and Opportunities of Co‐Creating Health Interventions to Fit Local Contexts
INTRODUCTION: Healthcare providers' role in co-creating health interventions and implementation strategies has evolved significantly, and yet, there is little documentation of this from low-resource settings. This study aims to share the dilemmas of engaging healthcare providers in co-creating locally adapted clinical guidelines for maternity facilities in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and strategies used to address them. METHODS: An ethnographic stud…
Scaling up context-tailored clinical guidelines and training to improve childbirth care in urban, low-resource maternity units in Tanzania
While facility births are increasing in many low-resource settings, quality of care often does not follow suit; maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity remain unacceptably high. Therefore, realistic, context-tailored clinical support is crucially needed to assist birth attendants in resource-constrained realities to provide best possible evidence-based and respectful care. Our pilot study in Zanzibar suggested that co-created clinical prac…
Scaling up Locally Adapted Clinical Practice Guidelines for Improving Childbirth Care in Tanzania
Effective, low-cost clinical interventions to improve facility-based care during childbirth are critical to reduce maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity in low-resource settings. While health interventions for low- and lower-middle-income countries are often developed and implemented top-down, needs and circumstances vary greatly across locations. Our pilot study in Zanzibar improved care through locally co-created intrapartum clinical p…
Influence of gender norms in relation to child’s quality of care
Factors affecting effective ventilation during newborn resuscitation
BACKGROUND: Intrapartum-related hypoxia accounts for 30% of neonatal deaths in Tanzania. This has led to the introduction and scaling-up of the Helping Babies Breathe (HBB) programme, which is a simulation-based learning programme in newborn resuscitation skills. Studies have documented ineffective ventilation of non-breathing newborns and the inability to follow the HBB algorithm among providers. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed at exploring barriers…
Acquiring Knowledge about the Use of a Newly Developed Electronic Fetal Heart Rate Monitor
In an effort to reduce newborn mortality, a newly developed strap-on electronic fetal heart rate monitor was introduced at several health facilities in Tanzania in 2015. Training sessions were organized to teach staff how to use the device in clinical settings. This study explores skilled birth attendants' perceptions and experiences acquiring and transferring knowledge about the use of the monitor, also called Moyo. Knowledge about this learning…
I Was Relieved to Know That My Baby Was Safe”
To increase labor monitoring and prevent neonatal morbidity and mortality, a new wireless, strap-on electronic fetal heart rate monitor called Moyo was introduced in Tanzania in 2016. As part of the ongoing evaluation of the introduction of the monitor, the aim of this study was to explore the attitudes and perceptions of women who had worn the monitor continuously during their most recent delivery and perceptions about how it affected care. This…
Why do women not adhere to advice on maternal referral in rural Tanzania? Narratives of women and their family members
BACKGROUND: In most low-income countries, many women with high-risk pregnancies and complications do not reach the referral hospitals despite the provision of referral advice. OBJECTIVE: To explore how antenatal maternal referral advice is understood and handled in a rural Tanzanian community. METHODS: Individual in-depth interviews were conducted with six women who did not go to hospital and 13 people who were involved in the referral advice. Na…
Improved postpartum care after a participatory facilitation intervention in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
BACKGROUND: In order to improve the health and survival of mothers/newborns, the quality and attendance rates of postpartum care (PPC) must be increased, particularly in low-resource settings. OBJECTIVE: To describe outcomes of a collegial facilitation intervention to improve PPC in government-owned health institutions in a low-resource suburb in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. METHODS: A before-and-after evaluation of an intervention and comparison gro…
Perceptions about the cultural practices of male partners during postpartum care in rural Tanzania
BACKGROUND: Men play an important role in maternal health. The postpartum period is a critical stage, yet there is a scarcity of research that explores men's involvement during this stage. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to explore male partners' perceptions of the cultural practices during postpartum care in rural Tanzania. METHODS: Fourteen focus group discussions were conducted with 93 men, with an age range of 19-65 years, in August 2013.…
The Challenges of Providing Postpartum Education in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Postpartum education can save lives of mothers and babies in developing countries, and the World Health Organization recommends all mothers receive three postpartum consultations. More information is needed to better understand how postpartum education is delivered and ultimately improves postpartum health outcomes. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine how postpartum care was delivered in three postnatal hospital clinics in Dar es…
Women's perceptions of antenatal, delivery, and postpartum services in rural Tanzania
BACKGROUND: Maternal health care provision remains a major challenge in developing countries. There is agreement that the provision of quality clinical services is essential if high rates of maternal death are to be reduced. However, despite efforts to improve access to these services, a high number of women in Tanzania do not access them. The aim of this study is to explore women's views about the maternal health services (pregnancy, delivery, a…
Birth preparedness and complication readiness – a qualitative study among community members in rural Tanzania
BACKGROUND: Birth preparedness and complication readiness (BP/CR) strategies are aimed at reducing delays in seeking, reaching, and receiving care. Counselling on birth preparedness is provided during antenatal care visits. However, it is not clear why birth preparedness messages do not translate to utilisation of facility delivery. This study explores the perceptions, experiences, and challenges the community faces on BP/CR. DESIGN: A qualitativ…
Fear, blame and transparency
In recent decades, there has been growing attention to the overuse of caesarean section (CS) globally. In light of a high CS rate at a university hospital in Tanzania, we aimed to explore obstetric caregivers' rationales for their hospital's CS rate to identify factors that might cause CS overuse. After participant observations, we performed 22 semi-structured individual in-depth interviews and 2 focus group discussions with 5-6 caregivers in eac…
Prolonged sexual abstinence after childbirth
BACKGROUND: Prolonged sexual abstinence after childbirth is a socio-cultural practice with health implications, and is described in several African countries, including Tanzania. This study explored discourses on prolonged postpartum sexual abstinence in relation to family health after childbirth in low-income suburbs of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. METHODS: Data for the discourse analysis were collected through focus group discussions with first-tim…
Fear, blame and transparency
In recent decades, there has been growing attention to the overuse of caesarean section (CS) globally. In light of a high CS rate at a university hospital in Tanzania, we aimed to explore obstetric caregivers' rationales for their hospital's CS rate to identify factors that might cause CS overuse. After participant observations, we performed 22 semi-structured individual in-depth interviews and 2 focus group discussions with 5-6 caregivers in eac…
The Challenges of Providing Postpartum Education in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Postpartum education can save lives of mothers and babies in developing countries, and the World Health Organization recommends all mothers receive three postpartum consultations. More information is needed to better understand how postpartum education is delivered and ultimately improves postpartum health outcomes. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine how postpartum care was delivered in three postnatal hospital clinics in Dar es…
Prolonged sexual abstinence after childbirth
BACKGROUND: Prolonged sexual abstinence after childbirth is a socio-cultural practice with health implications, and is described in several African countries, including Tanzania. This study explored discourses on prolonged postpartum sexual abstinence in relation to family health after childbirth in low-income suburbs of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. METHODS: Data for the discourse analysis were collected through focus group discussions with first-tim…
Women's perceptions of antenatal, delivery, and postpartum services in rural Tanzania
BACKGROUND: Maternal health care provision remains a major challenge in developing countries. There is agreement that the provision of quality clinical services is essential if high rates of maternal death are to be reduced. However, despite efforts to improve access to these services, a high number of women in Tanzania do not access them. The aim of this study is to explore women's views about the maternal health services (pregnancy, delivery, a…
Birth preparedness and complication readiness – a qualitative study among community members in rural Tanzania
BACKGROUND: Birth preparedness and complication readiness (BP/CR) strategies are aimed at reducing delays in seeking, reaching, and receiving care. Counselling on birth preparedness is provided during antenatal care visits. However, it is not clear why birth preparedness messages do not translate to utilisation of facility delivery. This study explores the perceptions, experiences, and challenges the community faces on BP/CR. DESIGN: A qualitativ…
Fear, blame and transparency
In recent decades, there has been growing attention to the overuse of caesarean section (CS) globally. In light of a high CS rate at a university hospital in Tanzania, we aimed to explore obstetric caregivers' rationales for their hospital's CS rate to identify factors that might cause CS overuse. After participant observations, we performed 22 semi-structured individual in-depth interviews and 2 focus group discussions with 5-6 caregivers in eac…
Why do women not adhere to advice on maternal referral in rural Tanzania? Narratives of women and their family members
BACKGROUND: In most low-income countries, many women with high-risk pregnancies and complications do not reach the referral hospitals despite the provision of referral advice. OBJECTIVE: To explore how antenatal maternal referral advice is understood and handled in a rural Tanzanian community. METHODS: Individual in-depth interviews were conducted with six women who did not go to hospital and 13 people who were involved in the referral advice. Na…
Improved postpartum care after a participatory facilitation intervention in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
BACKGROUND: In order to improve the health and survival of mothers/newborns, the quality and attendance rates of postpartum care (PPC) must be increased, particularly in low-resource settings. OBJECTIVE: To describe outcomes of a collegial facilitation intervention to improve PPC in government-owned health institutions in a low-resource suburb in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. METHODS: A before-and-after evaluation of an intervention and comparison gro…
Perceptions about the cultural practices of male partners during postpartum care in rural Tanzania
BACKGROUND: Men play an important role in maternal health. The postpartum period is a critical stage, yet there is a scarcity of research that explores men's involvement during this stage. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to explore male partners' perceptions of the cultural practices during postpartum care in rural Tanzania. METHODS: Fourteen focus group discussions were conducted with 93 men, with an age range of 19-65 years, in August 2013.…
The Challenges of Providing Postpartum Education in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Postpartum education can save lives of mothers and babies in developing countries, and the World Health Organization recommends all mothers receive three postpartum consultations. More information is needed to better understand how postpartum education is delivered and ultimately improves postpartum health outcomes. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine how postpartum care was delivered in three postnatal hospital clinics in Dar es…
Factors affecting effective ventilation during newborn resuscitation
BACKGROUND: Intrapartum-related hypoxia accounts for 30% of neonatal deaths in Tanzania. This has led to the introduction and scaling-up of the Helping Babies Breathe (HBB) programme, which is a simulation-based learning programme in newborn resuscitation skills. Studies have documented ineffective ventilation of non-breathing newborns and the inability to follow the HBB algorithm among providers. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed at exploring barriers…
Acquiring Knowledge about the Use of a Newly Developed Electronic Fetal Heart Rate Monitor
In an effort to reduce newborn mortality, a newly developed strap-on electronic fetal heart rate monitor was introduced at several health facilities in Tanzania in 2015. Training sessions were organized to teach staff how to use the device in clinical settings. This study explores skilled birth attendants' perceptions and experiences acquiring and transferring knowledge about the use of the monitor, also called Moyo. Knowledge about this learning…
I Was Relieved to Know That My Baby Was Safe”
To increase labor monitoring and prevent neonatal morbidity and mortality, a new wireless, strap-on electronic fetal heart rate monitor called Moyo was introduced in Tanzania in 2016. As part of the ongoing evaluation of the introduction of the monitor, the aim of this study was to explore the attitudes and perceptions of women who had worn the monitor continuously during their most recent delivery and perceptions about how it affected care. This…
Influence of gender norms in relation to child’s quality of care
Scaling up context-tailored clinical guidelines and training to improve childbirth care in urban, low-resource maternity units in Tanzania
While facility births are increasing in many low-resource settings, quality of care often does not follow suit; maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity remain unacceptably high. Therefore, realistic, context-tailored clinical support is crucially needed to assist birth attendants in resource-constrained realities to provide best possible evidence-based and respectful care. Our pilot study in Zanzibar suggested that co-created clinical prac…
Scaling up Locally Adapted Clinical Practice Guidelines for Improving Childbirth Care in Tanzania
Effective, low-cost clinical interventions to improve facility-based care during childbirth are critical to reduce maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity in low-resource settings. While health interventions for low- and lower-middle-income countries are often developed and implemented top-down, needs and circumstances vary greatly across locations. Our pilot study in Zanzibar improved care through locally co-created intrapartum clinical p…
The Dilemmas and Opportunities of Co‐Creating Health Interventions to Fit Local Contexts
INTRODUCTION: Healthcare providers' role in co-creating health interventions and implementation strategies has evolved significantly, and yet, there is little documentation of this from low-resource settings. This study aims to share the dilemmas of engaging healthcare providers in co-creating locally adapted clinical guidelines for maternity facilities in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and strategies used to address them. METHODS: An ethnographic stud…
Collective coping work among healthcare providers navigating the precarities of an overburdened maternity facility in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
This study examines collective coping among birth attendants, managers, and pregnant women in an overburdened urban maternity facility in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Drawing on three months of ethnographic research, including participant observations and interviews, we explore how birth attendants navigate systemic challenges in a low-resource setting. Using thematic network analysis, we found that collective coping involved modifying care practices…
Tanzania (16 obras) · Medicine (15 obras) · Global Maternal and Child Health (14 obras) · Nursing (14 obras) · Maternal and Perinatal Health Interventions (11 obras) · Socioeconomics (10 obras) · Qualitative research (9 obras) · Focus group (7 obras) · Health care (7 obras) · Psychology (7 obras)