ArticleGlobal health action2022
Barriers and strategies needed to improve maternal health services among pregnant adolescents in Uganda: a qualitative study.
Article in Global health action, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Facilitators and barriers of healthcare financing modalities for universal maternal healthcare services in East Africa: a qualitative systematic review.BMC health services research · 2025Pooled it
- Barriers and facilitators to maternal healthcare in East Africa: a systematic review and qualitative synthesis of perspectives from women, their families, healthcare providers, and key stakeholders.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Pooled it
- Are facility service delivery models meeting the sexual and reproductive health needs of adolescents in Sub-Saharan Africa? A qualitative evidence synthesis.BMC health services research · 2025Pooled it
- Factors influencing the uptake of antenatal care in Uganda: a mixed methods systematic review.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2024Pooled it
- Estimating the impact and cost-effectiveness of antenatal care approaches in 24 low- and middle-income countries: a modelling study.BMC global and public health · 2026Article
- Access to healthcare amongst adolescent girls and young women in Ugandan artisanal and small-scale mining communities.International journal for equity in health · 2026Article
- Utilization of antenatal care services and associated factors among urban refugee adolescents in Kampala, Uganda.African health sciences · 2025Article
- Understanding the Reasons Why Patients With Food Insecurity Decline Social Assistance at a Large Academic Medical Center.AJPM focus · 2025Article
- 'I really feel pity for them': health workers' readiness to offer maternal health services to urban refugee adolescents in Kampala, Uganda-a qualitative study.BMJ public health · 2025Article
- Improving access to sexual and reproductive health services among adolescent women in Zimbabwe.Reproduction & fertility · 2024Article
- Article
- Integrating trauma- and violence-informed care for adolescent mothers in Rwanda: a qualitative study with community health workers.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Individual and community-level factors associated with women's utilization of postnatal care services in Uganda, 2016: a multilevel and spatial analysis.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Factors affecting the provision of high-quality postnatal care services in Zanzibar: a qualitative study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2023Article
- Assessing the coverage of full antenatal care among adolescent mothers from scheduled tribe and scheduled caste communities in India.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Accessibility and barriers to maternal health services for adolescents in Sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review.Therapeutic advances in reproductive healthArticle
- Health Workers' Perspectives on the Availability, Accessibility and Quality of Maternal Health Services for Adolescent Girls in Chiredzi District, Zimbabwe: A Cross-Sectional Study.Therapeutic advances in reproductive healthArticle
- Disparities in healthcare utilization and depression among young mothers: The role of family functioning.Women's health (London, England)Article
- A scoping review of qualitative studies on sexual and reproductive health and rights in Uganda: Exploring factors at multiple levels.Women's health (London, England)Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundIn Uganda, the uptake of maternal health services is very low, with only 41.1% of pregnant adolescent girls attending the eight antenatal visits that are recommended by the World Health Organisation. Uptake of maternal health services is essential in reducing the current level of adolescent pregnancies as well as its adverse effects on adolescent mothers and their babies, such as preterm deliveries, prolonged labour, death during pregnancy, and childbirth. No previous study has described pregnant adolescents' experiences with maternal health services in Uganda.
objectiveThis study aimed to describe the barriers and strategies needed to improve maternal health services among pregnant adolescents in Uganda.
methodsData were collected in the Naguru Teenage Information and Health Centre in Uganda through individual interviews involving 31 pregnant adolescents. The transcribed interviews were inductively analysed through content analysis.
resultsThe pregnant adolescents described difficulty in reaching, as well as lack of financial support to visit, the Naguru Teenage Information and Health Centre, which is a clinic providing youth friendly services. Feelings of being discriminated against and disrespected by health workers, and lack of privacy when receiving health services was major barriers that hindered their access to maternal health services. Pregnant adolescents' access to these services can be enhanced by improving health workers' working conditions, accelerating community and health worker awareness on ways to mitigate these barriers, and developing policies that encourage men's involvement in maternal health services.
conclusionAdolescents in Uganda face considerable barriers to accessing improved and quality maternal health services. To mitigate these barriers, according to the adolescents, considerable efforts are required to tackle health workers' working conditions and sensitise the community on the importance of, as well as securing the availability of, maternal health services for pregnant adolescents. Future research should focus on pregnant adolescents who receive family support.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.