Browsing by Author "Boltman-Binkowski, Haaritha"

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    Assessment of quality of care in the management of postpartum haemorrhage: A review of selected maternal death cases
    (African Association for Physical, Health Education, Recreation and Dance, 2015) Boltman-Binkowski, Haaritha
    Obstetric haemorrhage was the third most common cause of maternal death in South Africa for the triennium 2008 to 2010, increasing from the rate in 2005 to 2007. The major causes of death from haemorrhage remained similar during 2005 to 2010. Provincial assessments assert that 80.1% of these deaths were avoidable. Patient-related avoidable factors, mostly delay in seeking care, were present for only a third of the total deaths. A worrying 30.7% of deaths were due to lack of appropriately trained doctors or nurses. At least at the primary care level, midwives are expected to be able to recognise, manage and refer cases of postpartum haemorrhage (PPH). National management protocols inform practice in this area, since professional regulations are lacking. The primary objective of this study was to assess the clinical practices of midwives in managing postpartum haemorrhage and to report on the quality of care during this process. A quantitative design was utilised in this exploratory, descriptive study. The results of the analysis showed that the general quality of care was poor and basic lifesaving measures were only performed in half of the cases. In view of the maternal deaths caused by postpartum haemorrhage, poor quality of care by midwives should be urgently addressed.
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    Evaluating blogging as a reflective strategy in a service-learning module for undergraduate nursing students
    (Africa Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Sport and Dance, 2014) Boltman-Binkowski, Haaritha; Julie, Hester
    Literature suggests that blogging has the potential to be a transformational technology for teaching and learning. It is claimed that blogging is a useful practice for development of higher-order learning skills, active, learner-centred pedagogy, authentic learning, associative thinking, and interactive learning communities. At a school of nursing students are expected to be active participants in constructing knowledge and to build upon constructive learning principles through the use of e-tools such as forums, chat rooms and blogs. Hence an online module was designed for the fourth-year undergraduate nursing programme that requires students to engage in and reflect on a service learning community project. The reflection activities were accomplished through blogging and were expected to be completed according to the allocated structure. The main pedagogic objective was to reflect upon and discuss module content and/or issues that arose out of their learning experiences. Quantitative methods were used for this study. The purpose was to evaluate whether blogging could enhance reflective learning and the depth of the reflection that arose as a result of blogging. Results showed that students engage in both reflective and non-reflective thinking through blogging, with varying levels of depth of reflection.
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    A systematic review of best practices in the acute management of postpartum haemorrhage in primary maternity care settings
    (University of the Western Cape, 2018) Boltman-Binkowski, Haaritha; Chipps, Jennifer
    Background: Postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) is one of the most preventable causes of maternal death, yet it still ranks as one of the main conditions responsible for maternal mortality. PPH occurs at a stage when a mother is the least likely to receive care, and mothers often do not survive to be referred to a more specialised level of care. This is compounded by the patient not being able to warn healthcare providers timeously about their condition and healthcare providers lacking training resulting in a lack of accuracy in diagnosis, lack of resources, and differing methods of treatment. Due to the lack of consensus in available treatment options, and the paucity of research aimed at clinical interventions for midwives at the primary care level, this research report aimed to investigate the evidence in order to establish the best practices and evidence for clinical interventions to manage postpartum haemorrhage for midwives at the primary care level. This is to ensure that the continuing education for midwives in practice is based on evidence to keep their skill set current and expose practitioners to the latest evidence based care. Aim: To systematically review all available published evidence for the acute non-pharmaceutical, non-surgical, management of PPH for use by midwives at a primary maternity care setting.
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    A systematic review: Are herbal and homeopathic remedies used during pregnancy safe?
    (AOSIS, 2016) Boltman-Binkowski, Haaritha
    BACKGROUND: Herbal and homeopathic remedies have been used to assist with childbearing and pregnancy for centuries. Allopathic (‘Western’) medicine is traditionally avoided during pregnancy because of limited drug trials and the suspected teratogenic effects of these medications. This has led to an increase in the use of herbal and homeopathic remedies, as they are viewed to have no teratogenic effect on the developing foetus. Health providers are faced with questions from their clients regarding the safety of these remedies, but much of the evidence about these herbal and homeopathic remedies is anecdotal and few remedies have been tested scientifically. OBJECTIVES: By conducting a systematic review, the primary objective was to evaluate maternal and neonatal outcomes of ingested herbal and homeopathic remedies during pregnancy. METHOD: A systematic review was conducted to synthesise all the evidence with the purpose of evaluating the safety of herbal and homeopathic remedies based on adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes. Only randomised and quasi-randomised controlled trials that met all inclusion criteria were included in the review. RESULTS: The ingestion of ginger for nausea and vomiting during pregnancy was shown to have no harmful maternal or neonatal effects. Ingestion of castor oil for induction of labour showed a tendency towards an increase in the incidence of caesarean section and meconiumstained liquor, warranting further research into its safety issues. CONCLUSION: Larger randomised controlled trials need to be conducted, especially in South Africa, to establish the safety and efficacy of commonly-used remedies.
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    Women’s perceptions of long-acting reversible contraceptives at a primary health care clinic in Cape Town, South Africa
    (University of Western Cape, 2020) Ranape, Judiac; Daniels, Felicity; Boltman-Binkowski, Haaritha
    Increasing numbers of unintended pregnancies are occurring due to contraceptive failure. Unsafe abortion remains one of the top five avoidable patient-related causes of maternal death in South Africa. There are much higher reported failure rates for short-acting methods of contraceptives than long-acting methods of contraceptives; the uptake of long-acting methods of contraception though remains low.