Evaluating a clinical mentorship intervention on maternal and neonatal complications in primary health facilities in Blantyre district, Malawi: A longitudinal analysis of the Global Action in Nursing program.

BACKGROUND: While Malawi has made great strides increasing the number of facility-based births, maternal and neonatal mortality remains high. An intervention started in 2019 provided short-course training followed by year-long longitudinal bedside mentorship for nurse midwives at seven health facilities in Blantyre district. The intervention was initiated following invitation from the district to improve outcomes for patients during childbirth. This study examined the impact of the intervention on the reporting of obstetric and neonatal complications and related care. METHODS: Patient level data were collected from the District Health Information System 2 database from intervention and non-intervention facilities. Bivariate analysis explored the impact of longitudinal bedside mentorship on select District Health Information System 2 variables at six-month intervals. Outcomes were then analyzed using nonlinear quantile mixed models to better account for the impact of time and clustering at the facility level. RESULTS: Significant changes were found in the reporting of obstetric and neonatal complications over time at intervention facilities compared to non-intervention facilities. Intervention facilities showed statistically significant increases in the reporting of prolonged labor, pre/eclampsia, fetal distress, retained placenta, and premature labor. There was also a statistically significant decrease in the reporting of no complications in the multivariate model (95%CI: -0.8 to -0.2). In both the bivariate and multivariate models, the reporting of 'None' significantly decreased (0.8 % median), while the reporting of prematurity (0.2 % median) and asphyxia (0.3 % median) both significantly increased. The missingness of data at intervention facilities decreased to almost zero compared to non-intervention facilities. DISCUSSION: The increase in reported maternal and neonatal complications suggests improved early identification of complications at the facility level. The improved accuracy of patient data from intervention facilities shows the impact mentorship has on data quality which is crucial for the allocation of resources. By highlighting the apparent dose-response relationship of longitudinal bedside mentorship, this study will inform the broader use of mentorship in training programs. Future research is needed to explore the impact of longitudinal mentorship on quality of care.

Exploring the impact of COVID-19 on reported maternal and neonatal complications and access to maternal health care in five government health facilities in Blantyre, Malawi.

BACKGROUND: There is a dearth of studies assessing the effects of SARS-CoV-2 on the healthcare system and access to care, especially in lower- and middle-income countries such as Malawi. We aimed to assess the impacts of COVID-19 on reported maternal and neonatal complications as well as potential changes in maternal care access to care among five primary care health facilities in Blantyre, Malawi. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study assessed maternal and neonatal register data from five participating health centers in Blantyre, Malawi using the Malawi District Health Information Software 2 (DHIS2) to compare outcomes from 15 months before COVID-19 emerged, defined as the pre-Covid period (January 2019 -March 2020) with nine months after COVID-19 (April 2020 -December 2020). RESULTS: There was a significant decrease in reported use of vacuum extraction, which went from <0.01%in the pre-COVID period to 0% in the COVID period (p = 0.01). The proportion of births reporting fetal distress almost tripled from 0.46% to 1.36% (p = 0.001) during the COVID-19 period. Additionally, reported anticonvulsant use significantly increased from 0.01% to 1.2% (p<0.01), and antibiotic use significantly increased from 0.45% to 1.6% (p = 0.01). Asphyxia was the only significant neonatal complication variable reported, increasing from 2.80% to 3.45% (p = 0.01). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that significant outcomes were mainly due to the indirect effects of COVID-19 rather than the virus itself. Based on our findings and the contextual qualitative interviews with two Malawian expert midwives, we concluded that mothers may have been affected more due to understaffing and shortage of skilled personnel in the study health facilities. Therefore, the development of highly skilled health workers may contribute to better outcomes, along with adequate staffing and a streamlined referral process.