Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41699660›Full record

ArticleReproductive health2026

Effect of eHealth intervention (ADHERE) on adherence to partograph and WHO safe childbirth checklist in intrapartum care: implementation research in Ethiopia.

Dabere Nigatu, Muluken Azage Yenesew, Eyaya Misgan, Daniel A Enquobahrie, Tegegn Kebebaw, Enyew Abate, Esubalew Alemneh, Mirkuzie Woldie, Tsinuel Girma

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Article in Reproductive health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Dabere NigatuDepartment of Reproductive Health and Population Studies, School of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. daberen@yahoo.com.
Muluken Azage YenesewDepartment of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.
Eyaya MisganSchool of Medicine, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.
Daniel A EnquobahrieDepartment of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States.
Tegegn KebebawICT4D Research Center, Bahir Dar Institute of Technology, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.
Enyew AbateSchool of Medicine, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.
Esubalew AlemnehICT4D Research Center, Bahir Dar Institute of Technology, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.
Mirkuzie WoldieDepartment of Health Policy and Management, Institute of Health, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia.
Tsinuel GirmaSchool of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe partograph and WHO safe childbirth checklist (SCC), which include on-admission, before-birth, after-birth and discharge components, are quality improvement (QI) tools in intrapartum care that have long been recommended for use. However, poor-quality intrapartum care remains a significant barrier to improving maternal and newborn health outcomes in countries like Ethiopia, largely due to total non-use or poor adherence to these QI tools. eHealth-based interventions present promising strategies to enhance healthcare quality. Therefore, we conducted implementation research to examine the effect of ADHERE (Antenatal care, chilDbirtH carE and postnatal ca.RE), an innovative eHealth system with a clinical decision support element, on adherence to QI tools during intrapartum care in health facilities in Ethiopia.

methodsA quasi-experimental study was conducted in 3 hospitals and 6 health centers (5 intervention and 4 control) in Ethiopia, guided by the Implementation Research Logic Model. Data were collected from labor and delivery charts by trained data collectors. A total of 2,190 charts (1,076 baseline [538 per arm] and 1,114 end-line [554 control and 560 intervention arms] charts) were included in the analysis. Difference-in-difference (DiD) analysis was used to estimate the effect of the intervention. The partograph adherence score and SCC completion rates were compared between the two arms. Statistically significant differences were determined using a p-value < 0.05 cutoff.

resultsBaseline mean partograph scores in the control and intervention arms were 4.11 and 4.23, respectively. Baseline SCC adherence rates at admission, before-birth, after-birth, and discharge were 25.8%, 24.9%, 24.9%, and 24.3% in the control arm, respectively, and 49.6%, 47.8%, 45.9%, and 45.5% in the intervention arm, respectively. The ADHERE intervention increased partograph adherence score by 4.27 units (DiD = 4.27, 95%CI [1.80, 5.09]). The ADHERE intervention increased SCC adherence by 9.3%-points (DiD = 0.093, 95%CI [0.036, 0.151]) at admission, 22.3%-points (DiD = 0.223, 95%CI [0.121, 0.325]) before-birth, and 15.2%-points (DiD = 0.152, 95%CI [0.072, 0.231]) after-birth. Conversely, the ADHERE intervention did not significantly change SCC adherence at discharge (DiD = -0.025, 95%CI [-0.071, 0.021]). The lack of significant improvement may be due to providers less attention to discharge evaluation because of work overload.

conclusionThe ADHERE intervention significantly improved adherence to partograph and SCC at admission, before-birth, and immediately after-birth during intrapartum care. However, it did not significantly improve adherence to the discharge checklist. Therefore, ADHERE-assisted implementation of QI tools can potentially prevent adverse birth outcomes related to low-quality intrapartum care and could be considered for scale up across health facilities in Ethiopia.

Indexed as

ChecklistDelivery, ObstetricGuideline AdherencePerinatal CareAdherence InterventionsAdultDigital HealthEthiopiaFemaleHumansParturitionPregnancyPrenatal CareQuality ImprovementTelemedicineWorld Health OrganizationeHealth innovationEthiopiaHealthcare providerImplementation researchLabor and delivery careQuality improvementQuality of careQuasi-experimental design

Identifiers

PMID41699660
PMCPMC13014875

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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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 Socratic graph.