Organizational related challenges in antenatal care service delivery in semi-urban healthcare facilities in Gauteng, South Africa

Antenatal care is vital in improving pregnancy outcomes. It is a vehicle for assisting in the reduction of maternal mortality. For this to be realized, there is a need for antenatal care that is effective, acceptable, and accessible to the users. However, South Africa is faced with challenges that impact the utilization of the service. A descriptive phenomenological design was used to explore the challenges of pregnant women attending antenatal care at selected facilities in Gauteng Province. Data were collected from 14 purposefully selected participants through in-depth individual telephonic interviews. Data analysis was guided by the Colaizzi steps. Credibility, dependability, confirmability, and transferability measures were applied to ensure trustworthiness. Ethical principles were adhered to throughout the study. Three themes emerged: resources and Covid-19-related challenges, overwhelming logistical processes, and suggested recommendations for ANC improvement. Management should provide sufficient resources and counselling services for staff and prioritize antenatal care services. (Afr J Reprod Health 2022;26[10]: 44-54). © 2022, Women's Health and Action Research Centre. All rights reserved.

How do you expect us to survive? Lamentation of female sex workers in Zimbabwe during COVID-19 lockdown

The restrictive measures taken to curb and mitigate the spread of the corona virus (COVID-19) had negative implications on the vulnerable populations. Of the latter, the most severely affected were sex workers, whose work venues and customers were locked down. This descriptive phenomenological study explored effects of COVID-19 on female sex workers in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Snowballing sampling was used to recruit participants. Data were collected through in-depth face-to-face individual interviews with ten female sex workers. The sample size was determined by data saturation. Colaizzi's seven-step content analysis approach was followed to guide data analysis. Rigour was ensured by adhering to Guba and Lincoln's trustworthiness criteria. The study found that the measures impacted negatively on sex workers' income, making it difficult for them to get money for food and rentals. In response, some sex workers adopted innovative entrepreneurship. Others engaged in risky sexual behaviours, further aggravating their situation emotionally and psychologically. It is recommended that the government and policy makers provide psychosocial and economic support to protect the rights of female sex workers in order to maintain the gains made in HIV response.

COVID-19 and street traders in the City of uMhlathuze, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: On responses and adaptation mechanisms

The paper analysed the response and adaptation strategies of informal street traders to the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the City of uMhlathuze, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. A total of 30 informal street traders were interviewed using in-depth unstructured interviews as an instrument of data collection. Findings suggest that the informal street traders responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by breaking COVID-19 regulations to secure incomes as well as by depending on social grants and saving schemes to survive during the COVID-19 crisis. All these suggest the need for disaster preparedness on the part of the government and relevant stakeholders to protect the informal economy and its immediate beneficiaries in times of crisis like COVID-19. This is pertinent because the informal economy plays an important socioeconomic developmental role for many people living in urban South Africa.