Low birth weight risk prediction model: a prognostic study in the Birhan field site in Ethiopia.

Background: Pregnancy-related complications remain a global challenge, with low- and middle-income countries bearing the highest burden. Predicting the absolute risk of adverse birth outcomes will facilitate the delivery of early preventative and therapeutic interventions. We aimed to developed and internally validate a risk prediction model for low birth weight (LBW) in Ethiopia.

Risk factors associated with zero-dose and under-immunized children, and the number of vaccination doses received by children in Ethiopia: a negative binomial regression analysis.

Introduction: Despite the proven effectiveness of vaccination in improving child health and well-being, millions of children remain unvaccinated globally. Ethiopia has increased child vaccination coverage by threefold in the last decades. However, it is one of the top contributors to zero-dose and unimmunized children in Africa.

Birth outcomes and survival by sex among newborns and children under 2 in the Birhan Cohort: a prospective cohort study in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia.

Introduction: Despite the progress in reducing child mortality, the rate remains high, particularly in sub-Saharan African countries. Limited data exist on child survival and other birth outcomes by sex. This study compared survival rates and birth outcomes by sex among neonates and children under 2 in Ethiopia.

Estimates and determinants of health facility delivery in the Birhan cohort in Ethiopia.

Health facility delivery is one of the critical indicators to monitor progress towards the provision of skilled delivery care and reduction in perinatal mortality. In Ethiopia, utilization of health facilities for skilled delivery care has been increasing but varies greatly by region and among specific socio-demography groups. We aimed to measure the prevalence and determinants of health facility delivery in the Amhara region in Ethiopia.

Carriage of antimicrobial-resistant Enterobacterales among pregnant women and newborns in Amhara, Ethiopia.

Objectives: Infections are one of the most common causes of neonatal mortality, and maternal colonization has been associated with neonatal infection. In this study, we sought to quantify carriage prevalence of extended-spectrum-beta-lactamase (ESBL) -producing and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) among pregnant women and their neonates and to characterize risk factors for carriage in rural Amhara, Ethiopia.

Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study nested in the Birhan field site.

Antenatal care coverage in a low-resource setting: Estimations from the Birhan Cohort.

Antenatal care (ANC) coverage estimates commonly rely on self-reported data, which may carry biases. Leveraging prospectively collected longitudinal data from the Birhan field site and its pregnancy and birth cohort, the Birhan Cohort, this study aimed to estimate the coverage of ANC, minimizing assumptions and biases due to self-reported information and describing retention patterns in ANC in rural Amhara, Ethiopia. The study population were women enrolled and followed during pregnancy between December 2018 and April 2020.

Setting a research agenda to advance maternal, newborn, and child health in Ethiopia: An adapted CHNRI prioritization exercise.

Background: Critical to the improvement of maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) in Ethiopia - where 14 000 mothers die from pregnancy-, childbirth-, or postpartum-related complications each year - is high-quality research and its effective translation into policy and practice. While Ethiopia has rapidly expanded the number of institutions that train and conduct MNCH research, the absence of a shared research agenda inhibits a coordinated approach to inform critical MNCH policy needs. The HaSET Maternal and Child Health Research Program (MCHRP) conducted a mixed methods formative assessment and prioritization exercise to guide investments in future MNCH research in Ethiopia.

Development of risk prediction models for preterm delivery in a rural setting in Ethiopia.

Background: Preterm birth complications are the leading causes of death among children under five years. However, the inability to accurately identify pregnancies at high risk of preterm delivery is a key practical challenge, especially in resource-constrained settings with limited availability of biomarkers assessment.

Methods: We evaluated whether risk of preterm delivery can be predicted using available data from a pregnancy and birth cohort in Amhara region, Ethiopia.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on utilisation of facility-based essential maternal and child health services from March to August 2020 compared with pre-pandemic March-August 2019: a mixed-methods study in North Shewa Zone, Ethiopia.

Introduction: Health systems are often weakened by public health emergencies that make it harder to access health services. We aimed to assess maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) service utilisation during the first 6 months of the COVID-19 pandemic compared with prior to the pandemic.

Methods: We conducted a mixed study design in eight health facilities that are part of the Birhan field site in Amhara, Ethiopia and compared the trend of service utilisation in the first 6 months of COVID-19 with the corresponding time and data points of the preceding year.

Estimates of Stillbirths, Neonatal Mortality, and Medically Vulnerable Live Births in Amhara, Ethiopia.

Importance: Data on birth outcomes and early mortality are scarce, especially in settings with limited resources. Total births, both stillbirths and live births, are often not counted, yet such data are critical to allocate resources and target interventions to improve survival.

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of stillbirths, neonatal deaths, and medically vulnerable phenotypes, such as preterm births, small-for-gestational-age (SGA), large-for-gestational-age (LGA), and low-birth-weight (LBW) births, in a setting where these key indicators remain largely unknown.

Birhan maternal and child health cohort: a study protocol.

Introduction: Reliable estimates on maternal and child morbidity and mortality are essential for health programmes and policies. Data are needed in populations, which have the highest burden of disease but also have the least evidence and research, to design and evaluate health interventions to prevent illnesses and deaths that occur worldwide each year.

Methods And Analysis: The Birhan Maternal and Child Health cohort is an open prospective pregnancy and birth cohort nested within the Birhan Health and Demographic Surveillance System.

Scoping review protocol on maternal, newborn and child health research in Ethiopia.

Introduction: There has been a tremendous reduction in maternal and child mortality in the last decade. However, a significant number of deaths still occur disproportionately in low-income country settings. Ethiopia is the second-most populous nation in sub-Saharan Africa with a high maternal mortality rate of 412 deaths per 100 000 live births and an under-five mortality rate of 55 per 1000 live births.