Search

Background: Obstructed labour, a sequel of prolonged labour, remains a significant contributor to maternal and perinatal deaths in low- and middle-income countries., Objective: We evaluated the modified World Health Organization (WHO) Labour Care Guide (LCG) in detecting prolonged and or obstructed labour, and other delivery outcomes compared with a traditional partograph at publicly-funded maternity centers of rural Mbarara district and City, Southwestern Uganda., Methods: Since November 2023, we deployed the LCG for use in monitoring labour by trained healthcare providers across all maternity centers in Mbarara district/City. We systematically randomized a total of six health center IIIs (HCIIIs) out of 11, and all health center IVs (HCIVs), reviewed all their patient labour monitoring records for their first quarter of 2024 (LCG-intervention) and 2023 (partograph-before LCG introduction). Our primary outcome was the proportion of women diagnosed with prolonged and or obstructed labour. Our secondary outcomes included; tool completion, mode of delivery, labour augmentation, stillbirths, maternal deaths, Apgar score, uterine rupture, postpartum haemorrhage (PPH). Data was collected in RedCap and analyzed using STATA version 17. Statistical significance was considered at p<0.05., Results: A total of 2,011 women were registered; 991 (49.3%) monitored using the LCG, and 1,020 (50.7%) using a partograph, 87% (1,741/2011) delivered from HCIVs and 270/2011 (13%) from HCIIIs. Mean maternal age (25.9; SD=5.6) and mean gestation age (39.4; SD=1.8) were similar between the two groups. A total of 120 (12.4%) cases of prolonged/obstructed labour were diagnosed (100 for LCG versus 20 for partograph), with the LCG having six times higher odds to detect/diagnose prolonged/obstructed labour compared to the partograph (aOR=5.94; CI 95% 3.63-9.73, P<0.001). Detection of obstructed labour alone increased to 12-fold with the LCG compared to the partograph (aOR=11.74; CI 95% 3.55-38.74, P<0.001). We also observed increased Caesarean section rates (aOR=6.12; CI 4.32-8.67, P<0.001), augmentation of labour (aOR=3.11; CI 95% 1.81-5.35, P<0.001), and better Apgar Score at 5 minutes (aOR=2.29; CI 95% 1.11-5.77, P=0.025). The tool completion rate was better for LCG compared to (58.5% versus 46.3%), aOR=2.11; CI 95% 1.08-5.44, P<0.001. We observed no differences in stillbirths, maternal deaths, post-partum haemorrhage (PPH) and uterine rupture., Conclusions: Our data shows that LCG diagnosed more cases of prolonged and or obstructed labour compared to the partograph among women delivering at rural publicly funded facilities in Mbarara city/district. We also observed increased C-sections, labour augmentation, and 5-minute Apgar scores. There were no differences in stillbirths, maternal deaths, PPH and uterine rupture. More controlled and powered studies should evaluate the two tools for other delivery outcomes, in different sub-populations.Trial registration number NCT05979194 clinical trials.gov., Competing Interests: Competing interests: No conflict of interest declared

Background: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) in pregnant women contribute about 25% of all infections and are among the most frequent clinical bacterial infections. Pregnancy changes in women that include anatomical, physiological and hormonal make them susceptible to develop UTI. Left untreated, UTI in pregnancy is associated with grave complications to the mother and fetus. These complications can be decreased by prompt and proper diagnosis and appropriate treatment that also reduces the emergency of drug resistance. Antimicrobial resistance is a major health problem in the treatment of UTI. We determined the prevalence, bacteriology and antimicrobial susceptibility of symptomatic urinary tract infection among pregnant women at Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital., Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study from November 2019 to February 2020 involving 400 pregnant women with symptomatic UTI. Patient information was obtained using a structured questionnaire. We collected clean-catch midstream urine specimens for culture and performed antimicrobial susceptibility testing following Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute standards. Data was entered into RED-cap Version 8.2 software and then exported to Stata Version 14.1 for analysis., Results: The proportion of culture-positive UTI was 140/400 (35%). Gram-negative bacteria were more prevalent (73%): Klebsiella pneumoniae 52(37.41%), Escherichia coli 40(28.78%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Proteus mirabilis 7(5.04% each), Citrobacter freundii 1(1%). Staphylococcus aureus 33(23.57%) was the only gram-positive isolate. All the isolates were resistant to ampicillin, amoxicillin, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid and ceftazidime/clavulanic acid (95.7, 95.0, 72.9 and 50.7% respectively). Prevalence of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases producing Enterobacteriaceae was 29.0% while that of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was 33.3%. All cultures demonstrated resistance to more than one drug. Majority of the bacterial isolates were sensitive to ciprofloxacin, ceftriaxone, nitrofurantoin, cefotaxime and gentamicin at 82.9, 81.4, 79.3, 78.6, 66.4 and 65.7% respectively., Conclusions: Klebsiella pneumoniae was the most prevalent isolate followed by E. coli. These two organisms were highly resistant to the commonly used antibiotics. Our study recorded a higher prevalence of culture-positive UTI in pregnancy than all the studies in Uganda. Empirical treatment of UTI should be minimized as sensitivity varies for each organism, for each drug and over time.