Christelle Boyi Hounsou

• Junior researcher at Centre de Recherche en Reproduction Humaine et en Démographie, Cotonou, Bénin

Introduction: Vaccination against COVID-19 is an essential tool in the fight against the pandemic, but adherence to vaccination programmes is a major challenge, particularly in African countries. This study aimed to identify determinants of uptake of the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine using large-scale data collected from the Beninese population. M...

While maternal mortality decreased during the Millennium Development Goals era, it remains unacceptably high, with stagnation in reductions possible due to shocks such as COVID-19. Most women in low- and middle-income countries already receive antenatal care and over half give birth in health facilities. In cities, use of health facilities for chil...

The initial program theory (IPT) is a core element of realist evaluation. An IPT presents a hypothesis about how, for whom, why, and in what contexts an intervention is effective. Despite their importance within realist studies, methodological guidance on how to develop an IPT is relatively scarce. We describe the methodological process of elicitin...

Background Patient autonomy is central to the provision of respectful maternity care. Enabling women to make decisions free of discrimination and coercion, and respecting their privacy and confidentiality can contribute to positive childbirth experiences. This study aimed to deepen the understanding of how patient autonomy is reflected through soci...

Background Few early-career researchers are working on rights-based knowledge production in sexual and reproductive health (SRH) in francophone Africa. To accelerate the generation and dissemination of evidence in the field of SRH and rights, young researchers need support. One form of support is the setting up of a mentorship program embedded in a...

Objective To assess the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the provision and use of maternal health services in southern Benin from a local health system perspective. Methods We conducted a qualitative study from April to December 2021 in a health district in southern Benin. We interviewed health workers involved in antenatal, delivery, postnatal...

Background: Maternal mortality remains a major public health issue in Benin. This study aimed to determine the hospital-based maternal mortality ratio and factors related with maternal deaths. Subjects and Method: We conducted a case-control study over two years from 1st January 2020 to 31 December 2021 in four Cotonou hospitals. It included 264 ma...

Il s'agit d'un livret qui présence les conclusions clés de l'étude au Bénin. Utile pour les détenteurs d'enjeux et d'influences

Objective Maintaining provision and utilization of maternal healthcare services is susceptible to external influences. This study describes how maternity care was provided during the COVID-19 pandemic and assesses patterns of service utilization and perinatal health outcomes in 16 referral hospitals (four each) in Benin, Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda...

La supervision formative (SF) est une intervention qui vise à renforcer les systèmes de santé et la qualité des services de santé en améliorant les performances des prestataires de santé. Ces dernières années, un large éventail de programmes de SF axés sur la gestion des cas de paludisme ont été mis en œuvre et étudiés dans les pays à revenu faible...

In Benin maternal mortality remains high at 397 deaths per 100,000 live births, despite 80% of births being attended by skilled birth attendants in health facilities. To identify childbirth practices that potentially contribute to this trend, an ethnographic study was conducted on the use of biomedical and alternative health services along the cont...

Introduction The development of COVID-19 vaccines has brought considerable hope for the control of the pandemic. With a view to promoting good vaccine coverage, this study aimed to measure vaccine intention against COVID-19 and to understand the factors that promote it. Method In April 2021, we conducted a cross-sectional and analytical study at t...

Health Facility Assessments (HFAs) assessing facilities’ readiness to provide services are well-established. However, HFA questionnaires are typically quantitative and lack depth to understand systems in which health facilities operate—crucial to designing context-oriented interventions. We report lessons from a multiple embedded case study explori...

The Strategic Purchasing Africa Resource Center (SPARC) developed a framework for tracking strategic purchasing that uses a functional and practical approach to describe, assess, and strengthen purchasing to facilitate policy dialogue within countries. This framework was applied in nine African countries to assess their progress on strategic purcha...

Objective Continuum of care (CoC) in maternal health is built on evidence suggesting that the integration of effective interventions across pregnancy, childbirth, and the postnatal period leads to better perinatal health outcomes. We explored gaps along the CoC in maternal health in Benin. Methods A mixed‐methods study triangulating results from a...

Objectives The study aimed to assess the determinants of modern contraceptive method use among young women in Benin. Design A mixed-methods design. Setting and participants We used the Benin 2017–2018 Demographic and Health Survey datasets for quantitative analysis. Data collection was conducted using multiple-cluster sampling method and through...

Objective To assess the implementation of the Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response (MPDSR) strategy institutionalized in Benin in 2013 to address the alarmingly high maternal and neonatal death rates. Methods A retrospective, mixed‐methods study was performed. We used all maternal and neonatal death notifications and reviews from...

Objectives The study aimed to assess the determinants of modern contraceptive method use among young women in Benin. Design A mixed-methods design. Setting and participants We used the Benin 2017-18 Demographic and Health Survey datasets for quantitative analysis. Data collection was conducted using multiple-cluster sampling method and through hous...