Development of the FAST-M maternal sepsis bundle for use in low-resource settings: a modified Delphi process.

OBJECTIVE: To develop a sepsis care bundle for the initial management of maternal sepsis in low resource settings. DESIGN: Modified Delphi process. SETTING: Participants from 34 countries. POPULATION: Healthcare practitioners working in low resource settings (n = 143; 34 countries), members of an expert panel (n = 11) and consultation with the World Health Organization Global Maternal and Neonatal Sepsis Initiative technical working group. METHODS: We reviewed the literature to identify all potential interventions and practices around the initial management of sepsis that could be bundled together. A modified Delphi process, using an online questionnaire and in-person meetings, was then undertaken to gain consensus on bundle items. Participants ranked potential bundle items in terms of perceived importance and feasibility, considering their use in both hospitals and health centres. Findings from the healthcare practitioners were then triangulated with those of the experts. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Consensus on bundle items. RESULTS: Consensus was reached after three consultation rounds, with the same items deemed most important and feasible by both the healthcare practitioners and expert panel. Final bundle items selected were: (1) Fluids, (2) Antibiotics, (3) Source identification and control, (4) Transfer (to appropriate higher-level care) and (5) Monitoring (of both mother and neonate as appropriate). The bundle was given the acronym 'FAST-M'. CONCLUSION: A clinically relevant maternal sepsis bundle for low resource settings has been developed by international consensus. TWEETABLE ABSTRACT: A maternal sepsis bundle for low resource settings has been developed by international consensus.

Randomised trial of vitamin A supplementation in pregnant women in rural Malawi found to be anaemic on screening by HemoCue.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of vitamin A supplementation in women with anaemia during pregnancy. DESIGN: Single-centre randomised controlled trial. SETTING: Rural community in southern Malawi, central Africa. POPULATION: Seven hundred women with singleton pregnancies at 12-24 weeks measured by ultrasound scan and with haemoglobin <11.0 g/dl by HemoCue screening method. Analysis was by intention to treat. All received iron and folate, and sulphadoxine/pyrimethamine for antimalarial prophylaxis. METHODS: Women were randomised to receive oral supplementation with daily 5000 or 10,000 iu vitamin A, or placebo. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Anaemia, as assessed by Coulter counter, severe anaemia, iron status and indices of infection. RESULTS: Vitamin A deficiency was, in this rural population, less common than predicted. Vitamin A supplementation had no significant impact on anaemia, severe anaemia, iron status and indices of infection. Vitamin A stores were less likely to be depleted at the end of pregnancy in supplemented groups. CONCLUSIONS: Vitamin A supplementation programmes to reduce anaemia should not be implemented in similar antenatal populations in rural sub-Saharan Africa unless evidence emerges of positive benefit on substantive clinical outcomes. Introducing public health interventions of unknown benefit and with unclear biological mechanisms can divert scarce resources from clinical and social interventions more likely to impact maternal mortality.

Malaria and anemia in antenatal women in Blantyre, Malawi: a twelve-month survey.

Malaria and anemia are common in pregnant African women. We screened 4,764 Malawian women at first antenatal visits for malaria and anemia. A total of 42.7% had a malaria infection, which was more common and of higher density in primigravidae (prevalence = 47.3%, geometric mean = 332 parasites/microl) and teenagers (49.8%, 390/microl) than in multigravidae (40.4%, 214/microl) or older women (40.6%, 227/microl). However, 35% of gravida 3+ women were parasitemic. A total of 57.2% of the women was anemic (hemoglobin < 11 g/dl), with moderate anemia (7.0-8.9 g/dl) in 14.9% and severe anemia (< 7 g/dl) in 3.2%. Prevalences of malaria and anemia were highest in the rainy season. Women with moderate/severe anemia had higher parasite prevalences and densities than women with mild/no anemia. Logistic regression showed that age, season, and trimester of presentation were significantly associated with the prevalence of malaria, but gravidity was not. In this urban setting, age and season are more important than gravidity as predictors of malaria at first antenatal visit, and parasitemia is frequent in women of all gravidities.

Anaemia in pregnancy in southern Malawi: prevalence and risk factors.

OBJECTIVE: To determine prevalence of anaemia in pregnancy in southern Malawi, and to establish if an 'at risk' group can be identified for targeted intervention. DESIGN: Prospective cross-sectional study. SETTING: A semi-urban hospital and a rural health clinic in southern Malawi. POPULATION: Pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic for their booking visit. METHODS: Haemoglobin concentration (g/dL) measured from a capillary blood sample (fingerprick) by battery operated HemoCue machine. RESULTS: In urban Blantyre 57% of women were anaemic by WHO standards (haemoglobin < 11.0 g/dL) and 3.6% were severely anaemic (haemoglobin < 7.0 g/dL). The prevalence was higher in the rural area; 72% and 4.0%, respectively. Primiparae were at slightly increased risk for overall anaemia and severe anaemia but the effect of targeting this group alone for interventions would mean at least 65% of anaemic women and over half of the women with severe anaemia would be excluded. When the effect of age was examined separate from gravidity, adolescents were not found to be at increased risk of anaemia. Anaemia was more prevalent in the wet season and in women who booked late for antenatal care. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of anaemia in pregnancy in our population is unacceptably high and deserves more attention. Prophylaxis of all women rather than an 'at risk' group based on age or gravidity is recommended.

Plasmodium falciparum rosette formation is uncommon in isolates from pregnant women.

We examined the formation of Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte rosettes using parasite isolates from placental or peripheral blood of pregnant Malawian women and from peripheral blood of children. Five of 23 placental isolates, 23 of 38 maternal peripheral isolates, and 136 of 139 child peripheral isolates formed rosettes. Placental isolates formed fewer rosettes than maternal isolates (range, 0 to 7. 5% versus 0 to 33.5%; P = 0.002), and both formed fewer rosettes than isolates cultured from children (range, 0 to 56%; P < 0.0001). Rosette formation is common in infections of children but uncommon in pregnancy and rarely detected in placental isolates.

Intermittent sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine in pregnancy: effectiveness against malaria morbidity in Blantyre, Malawi, in 1997-99.

Plasmodium falciparum malaria in pregnancy predisposes to maternal and foetal morbidity. In 1993 Malawi adopted intermittent presumptive therapy with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) as malaria prophylaxis for all pregnant women. To assess operational effectiveness of SP, we examined (in 1997-99) the relationship between number of doses of SP prescribed in antenatal clinic and indicators of malaria infection and morbidity at delivery, including peripheral and placental parasitaemia, maternal and neonatal anaemia, and birthweight. Among Malawian women delivering in a large urban hospital, SP prescription was associated with a decrease in placental malaria prevalence (from 31.9% with no SP prescription to 22.8% with > or = 2 doses SP) and density, decreased prevalence of low birthweight (from 23% in women not receiving SP to 10.3% in women given > or = 2 doses), and higher maternal haemoglobin concentrations. These effects were most marked in first and second pregnancies, in which malaria prevalence was highest. Maternal and cord blood malaria prevalence and mean cord blood haemoglobin concentrations did not differ with SP usage. Implementation of the SP administration policy was incomplete: 24% of women were not prescribed any SP, and only 30% were prescribed at least 2 doses as recommended. Intermittent presumptive treatment with SP is having a positive impact on some, but not all indicators of malaria infection and morbidity in Malawi. Improved implementation and continued surveillance are essential.

Plasmodium falciparum isolates from infected pregnant women and children are associated with distinct adhesive and antigenic properties.

Plasmodium falciparum malaria during pregnancy is an important cause of maternal and infant morbidity and mortality. Accumulation of large numbers of P. falciparum-infected erythrocytes in the maternal blood spaces of the placenta may be mediated by adhesion of infected erythrocytes to molecules presented on the syncytiotrophoblast surface. In this study, isolates from placentas and peripheral blood of infected pregnant women and from children were tested for binding to purified receptors and for agglutination with adult sera. Results suggest that adhesion to chondroitin sulfate A may be involved in placental parasite sequestration in most cases, but other factors are also likely to be important. Agglutination assay results suggest that parasites infecting pregnant women are antigenically distinct from those common in childhood disease. The prevalence of agglutinating antibodies to pregnancy isolates was generally low, but it was highest in multigravidae who are likely to have had the greatest exposure.

Reproductive mortality in Lusaka, Zambia, 1982-1983.

In this study, age- and parity-specific birth data were used to estimate maternal mortality rates for 1982-83 at University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, Zambia. Overall, 60 maternal deaths occurred during pregnancy or within 42 days after pregnancy termination, and four pregnancy-related deaths occurred more than 42 days after pregnancy termination. Nine of the 60 maternal deaths were caused by induced abortion, one by spontaneous abortion, twelve by hypertensive disease of pregnancy, ten by hemorrhage, nine by puerperal sepsis, and four by ectopic pregnancy. Of the 12 women who died from nonobstetric causes, one committed suicide because of an unwanted pregnancy. Women aged 35 years and older or who had had four previous pregnancies had a higher risk of dying than other women, especially by hemorrhage. The chief risk factors included not using an effective method of contraception, using an unsafe means to terminate unintended pregnancies, lack of prenatal care, refusing a blood transfusion (for religious reasons), and inadequately treating hypertensive disease of pregnancy. Overall, 31 of 60 women who died lacked adequate or appropriate medical care and 19 failed to obtain available health care. Medical management problems appeared to occur more frequently during the night-time medical shift.

Women refused second-trimester abortion: correlates of pregnancy outcome.

Little is known of the outcome of pregnancy in women denied abortions in the United States. To address this question, we studied the pregnancy outcomes in 316 low-income women who were denied second-trimester abortion at a large, metropolitan teaching hospital in the Southeast between August, 1978, and July, 1979. Follow-up information was available on 82%. One in five women denied an abortion managed to obtain one elsewhere. Earlier gestational age at the initial abortion request, higher education level, and higher income were the best predictors of whether a woman subsequently obtained an abortion. For the women who continued their pregnancies, neither the rate of serious maternal complications nor the neonatal death rate was increased when compared with that of the rest of the hospital's population.

Trends in the incidence of breastfeeding for Hispanics of Mexican origin and Anglos on the US-Mexico border.

In 1979 the Centers for Disease Control conducted a household probability survey of reproductive aged women living in 51 selected US countries on the US-Mexico border. Information on the incidence of breastfeeding for the period 1971-1979 was analyzed on 345 Anglo women and 689 Hispanic women of Mexican origin. Results indicated that the Anglos are following the national trend of increased breastfeeding, but Hispanics show no indication of an increase in the practice of breastfeeding.