Head load carriage and pregnancy in West Africa

Beaucage-Gauvreau, Erica; Dumas, Geneviève; Lawani, MM

doi:10.1016/j.clinbiomech.2011.05.008

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…In a recent study of 26 pregnant women in Benin (and a control group), Beaucage-Gauvreau et al (2011) found that posture modifications associated with trunk displacement led to muscle fatigue and ultimately to musculoskeletal injuries.…”

Section: D) Maternal and Fetal Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health impacts of pedestrian head-loading: A review of the evidence with particular reference to women and children in sub-Saharan Africa

Porter

Hampshire

Dunn

et al. 2013

Social Science & Medicine

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Publisher's copyright statement: NOTICE: this is the author's version of a work that was accepted for publication in Social Science Medicine. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A denitive version was subsequently published in Social Science Medicine, 88, 2013Medicine, 88, , 10.1016Medicine, 88, /j.socscimed.2013.010. Additional information:Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. focusing particularly on biomechanics, maternal health, and the psycho-social impacts of load-carrying; we also draw from our own research. Key knowledge gaps and areas for future research are highlighted.

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Section: D) Maternal and Fetal Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health impacts of pedestrian head-loading: A review of the evidence with particular reference to women and children in sub-Saharan Africa

Porter

Hampshire

Dunn

et al. 2013

Social Science & Medicine

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show abstract

“…However, this cannot be completed without a critical look at the occupational environment of the ever-increasing global female workforce [ 8 ]. A greater number of women in LMIC work in the informal sector [ 9 ], and their work entails repetitive lifting and carrying [ 10 ] with virtually no ergonomic guidelines to safeguard their welfare. Evidence suggests that most African women perform an average of 328 trunk flexions at angles exceeding 60º in an 8-hour period each day.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Liftless Intervention to Prevent Preterm Birth and Low Birthweight Among Pregnant Ghanaian Women: Protocol of a Stepped-Wedge Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

et al. 2018

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BackgroundPreterm birth (PTB) is a leading cause of infant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Every year, 20 million babies are born with low birthweight (LBW), about 96% of which occur in low-income countries. Despite the associated dangers, in about 40%-50% of PTB and LBW cases, the causes remain unexplained. Existing evidence is inconclusive as to whether occupational physical activities such as heavy lifting are implicated. African women bear the transport burden of accessing basic needs for their families. Ghana’s PTB rate is 14.5%, whereas the global average is 9.6%. The proposed liftless intervention aims to decrease lifting exposure during pregnancy among Ghanaian women. We hypothesize that a reduction in heavy lifting among pregnant women in Ghana will increase gestational age and birthweight.ObjectiveTo investigate the effects of the liftless intervention on the incidence of PTB and LBW among pregnant Ghanaian women.MethodsA cohort stepped-wedge cluster randomized controlled trial in 10 antenatal clinics will be carried out in Ghana. A total of 1000 pregnant participants will be recruited for a 60-week period. To be eligible, the participant should have a singleton pregnancy between 12 and 16 weeks gestation, be attending any of the 10 antenatal clinics, and be exposed to heavy lifting. All participants will receive standard antenatal care within the control phase; by random allocation, two clusters will transit into the intervention phase. The midwife-led 3-component liftless intervention consists of health education, a take-home reminder card mimicking the colors of a traffic light, and a shopping voucher. The primary outcome are gestational ages of <28, 28-32, and 33-37 weeks. The secondary outcomes are LBW (preterm LBW, term but LBW, and postterm), compliance, prevalence of low back and pelvic pain, and premature uterine contractions. Study midwives and participants will not be blinded to the treatment allocation.ResultsPermission to conduct the study at all 10 antenatal clinics has been granted by the Ghana Health Service. Application for funding to begin the trial is ongoing. Findings from the main trial are expected to be published by the end of 2019.ConclusionsTo the best of our knowledge, there has been no randomized trial of this nature in Ghana. Minimizing heavy lifting among pregnant African women can reduce the soaring rates of PTB and LBW. The findings will increase the knowledge of the prevention of PTB and LBW worldwide.Trial RegistrationPan African Clinical Trial Register (PACTR201602001301205); http://apps.who.int/trialsearch/ Trial2.aspx?TrialID=PACTR201602001301205 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/71TCYkHzu)Registered Report IdentifierRR1-10.2196/10095

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“…But this cannot be complete without a critical look at the occupational environment of the everincreasing global female workforce [8]. A greater number of women in low-and middle-income countries work in the informal sector [9] and their work entails repetitive lifting and carrying [10] with virtually no ergonomic guidelines to safeguard their welfare. Evidence suggests that most African women perform an average of 328 trunk flexions at angles transcending 60º in 8 hours per day.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Occupational Health Clinic for Ontario Workers (OHCOW) reported that a 4.5kg weight carried further away from the back in pregnancy exerts 68kg stress on the lower back as compared to 29.5kg in a non-pregnant woman [19]. A rise in intra-abdominal pressure resulting from lifting can initiate premature uterine contractions [10] and lifting increases the risk of pelvic pain during gestation [20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Liftless Intervention to Prevent Preterm Birth and Low Birthweight Among Pregnant Ghanaian Women: Protocol of a Stepped-Wedge Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial (Preprint)

Kwegyir-Afful¹,

Verbeek²,

Aziato³

et al. 2018

Preprint

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Background: Preterm birth (PTB) is a leading cause of infant morbidity and mortality in the world. Every year 20 million babies are born with low birthweight (LBW) and about 96% occurring in low-income countries. Despite their associated dangers, in about 40-50% of PTB and LBW cases, the causes are unexplained. Existing evidence is inconclusive as to whether occupational physical activities such as heavy lifting are implicated. African women bear the transport burden of accessing basic needs for their families. Ghana's preterm birth rate is 14.5% as compared to the global average of 9.6%. The proposed lift-less intervention aims to decrease lifting exposure during pregnancy among Ghanaian women. Our hypothesis is, a reduction in heavy lifting among pregnant women in Ghana will increase gestational age and birthweight.Method: A cohort stepped-wedge cluster randomized controlled trial in 10 antenatal clinics will be carried out in Ghana. A total of 1,000 participants will be recruited for 60 weeks period. To be eligible participant's pregnancy should be singleton between 12 to 16 weeks gestation, attending any of the 10 antenatal clinics and exposed to heavy lifting. All participants will receive standard antenatal care within the control phase and by random allocation; two clusters will transit into the intervention phase. The midwife-led 3-components lift-less intervention consists of health education, a take-home reminder card mimicking the colours of traffic light and a shopping voucher. The primary outcome will be gestational age at <28, 28-32 and 33-37 weeks. Secondary outcomes are LBW (preterm LBW, term but LBW and post term), compliance, prevalence of low back and pelvic pains and premature uterine contractions.Objective: To investigate the effects of the lift-less intervention on the incidence of prematurity and low birthweight among Ghanaian pregnant women. Results:The results of the trial will be published in a peer reviewed journal. It will increase knowledge in the prevention of PTB and low birth weight worldwide. Conclusion:To the best of our knowledge, there has been no randomized trial of this nature in Ghana. Minimizing heavy lifting among African pregnant women can reduce the soaring numbers of preterm and LBW.

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Head load carriage and pregnancy in West Africa

Cited by 6 publications

References 25 publications

Health impacts of pedestrian head-loading: A review of the evidence with particular reference to women and children in sub-Saharan Africa

Health impacts of pedestrian head-loading: A review of the evidence with particular reference to women and children in sub-Saharan Africa

A Liftless Intervention to Prevent Preterm Birth and Low Birthweight Among Pregnant Ghanaian Women: Protocol of a Stepped-Wedge Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

A Liftless Intervention to Prevent Preterm Birth and Low Birthweight Among Pregnant Ghanaian Women: Protocol of a Stepped-Wedge Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial (Preprint)

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