Prelacteal feeding and its relationship with exclusive breastfeeding and formula consumption among infants in low- and middle-income countries.

Background: Early feeding practices are important determinants of optimal feeding patterns later in life. We aimed to investigate if giving any fluids or foods other than breast milk during the first three days after birth (prelacteal feeds) affects exclusive breastfeeding and consumption of formula among children under six months of age in low and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using data from 85 nationally representative Demographic Health Surveys (DHS) and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) in LMICs (2010-2019).

Disparities in early initiation of breast feeding and prelacteal feeding: A study of low- and middle-income countries.

Background: Early initiation of breast feeding (EIBF) reduces the risk of neonatal mortality. However, only 45% of newborns are breast-fed within the first hour after birth and prelacteal feeding (PLF) is widely prevalent in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Objective: To assess within- and between-country disparities in EIBF and PLF practices by household wealth and place of birth and to investigate the national-level correlation between these feeding indicators in LMICs.

Ethnic inequalities in health intervention coverage among Mexican women at the individual and municipality levels.

Background: Using data from Mexico, the country with the largest indigenous population in Latin America, we describe ethnic inequalities in coverage with women's health interventions at individual and municipal levels.

Methods: Cross-sectional study using data from the National Health and Nutrition Survey 2018 and the Mexican Intercensal Survey 2015. We selected five outcomes: modern contraceptive use, content-qualified antenatal care (ANCq), and skilled birth attendant (SBA) for women aged 15-49 years; Pap smear test and mammogram among women aged 25-64 and 40-69 years respectively.

Public health insurance and ethnic disparities in maternal health care: the case of vulnerable Mexican women over the last 25 years.

This article examines the coverage in the continuum of antenatal-postnatal care for vulnerable women in Mexico according to indigenous status and assesses the influence of public health insurance strategies on the evolution of coverage over the last 25 years. We studied a total of 19 613 567 Mexican women, aged 12-54 years at last birth, based on a pooled cross-sectional analysis of data from the 1997, 2009, 2014 and 2018 waves of the National Survey of Demographic Dynamics. After describing sociodemographic characteristics and maternal-health coverage by indigenous status, we constructed a pooled fixed-effects and interaction multivariable regression model to assess the influence of the Seguro Popular programme on continuum of care.

Delivery channels and socioeconomic inequalities in coverage of reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health interventions: analysis of 36 cross-sectional surveys in low-income and middle-income countries.

Background: Global reports have described inequalities in coverage of reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health (RMNCH) interventions, but little is known about how socioeconomic inequality in intervention coverage varies across multiple low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We aimed to assess the association between wealth-related inequalities in coverage of RMNCH interventions.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we identified publicly available Demographic Health Surveys and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys from LMICs containing information on household characteristics, reproductive health, women's and children's health, nutrition, and mortality.

How the choice of ethnic indicator influences ethnicity-based inequities in maternal health care in four Latin American countries: who is indigenous?

Background: The current focus on monitoring health inequalities and the complexity around ethnicity requires careful consideration of how ethnic disparities are measured and presented. This paper aims to determine how inequalities in maternal healthcare by ethnicity change according to different criteria used to classify indigenous populations.

Methods: Nationally representative demographic surveys from Bolivia, Guatemala, Mexico, and Peru (2008-2016) were used to explore coverage gaps across maternal health care by ethnicity using different criteria.

Obstacles and opportunities for monitoring ethnicity-based inequalities in maternal health care: Lessons from Mexico.

Background: Monitoring and reducing inequalities in health care has become more relevant since the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs bring an opportunity to put the assessment of inequalities by ethnicity on the agenda of decision-makers. The objective of this qualitative study is to know how current monitoring is carried out and to identify what factors influence the process in order to incorporate indicators that allow the evaluation of inequalities by ethnicity.

Indigenous language and inequitable maternal health care, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru and the Plurinational State of Bolivia.

Latin America and the Caribbean still have high maternal mortality rates and access to health care is very uneven in some countries. Indigenous women, in particular, have poorer maternal health outcomes than the majority of the population and are less likely to benefit from health-care services. Therefore, inequities in maternal health between different ethnic groups should be monitored to identify critical factors that could limit health-care coverage.