Investigating the levels of organochlorine pesticides in human milk at three lactational stages: an intensive Ghanaian study.

During breastfeeding, the human breasts secrete three different kinds of milk. Research indicates that newborns exposed to organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) during developmental stages, even at low concentrations, may suffer irreparable harm. The study aimed to ascertain whether OCPs levels in human milk vary across lactational stages. University of Health and Allied Sciences Research Ethics Committee (UHAS- REC) examined and approved the study protocol. 47 volunteers were chosen using purposive sampling. Each participant donated 15 ml of each type of breast milk. Colostrum was taken shortly after delivery up to day 4, transitional milk between day 5 and two weeks postpartum, while mature milk was taken two weeks afterwards. A modified version of QuEChERS was used to process 10.0 g aliquot of each breast milk sample, and the resulting extracts analysed for OCPs employing a Gas Chromatograph, Varian CP 3800, fitted with electron capture detector (ECD). The detection threshold was not reached for any of the six OCPs tested. This implied that none of the breast milk components analysed in this study contained any detectable levels of OCPs that might have posed any serious health risks to the infants through breastfeeding. Aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, and heptachlor were not found in detectable quantities in mothers' milk during the three stages of lactation. Our findings are encouraging. The study's findings likely show that the Stockholm Convention's campaign to remove POPs from the environment seems to be yielding positive impact.

Experiences of women undergoing assisted reproductive technology in Ghana: A qualitative analysis of their experiences.

OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to explore the experiences of women undergoing Assisted Reproductive Technologies namely; Invitro Fertilization and Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection at the Finney Hospital and Fertility Centre, New Bortianor, Ghana. METHOD: A qualitative research design was employed to analyse and describe the experiences of the women seeking Assisted Reproductive Technologies. A total of 32 women were invited to take part in the interview, 15 of them accepted the invitation. However, saturation was reached before all interviews had been complete. RESULTS: Three themes emerged from the study: the women's experiences, challenges and the roles and contributions of significant others. The women were anxious, stressed-up, exhausted and financially burdened. Spouses and health professionals played significant roles by providing social, emotional and financial support for these women. Significant others such as spouses and close relatives were supportive and provided encouragement to the women. CONCLUSION: The experiences of women undergoing Assisted Reproductive Technologies are multi-dimensional. Thus, psychosocial interventions as part of ART services with health insurance cover may be client-centered and more appropriate for these group of women.

Factors Influencing Information and Communication Technology Knowledge and Use Among Nurse Managers in Selected Hospitals in the Volta Region of Ghana.

This study adopted a cross-sectional design to examine the factors that influence the use of information and communication technology among 108 nurse managers in selected hospitals in the Volta Region of Ghana. A self-administered questionnaire was used to gather data. A χ test of association identified sex (P < .0001), age (P < .0001), years of work experience (P < .0001), rank of the respondents (P < .0001), computer training (P < .0001), computer ownership (P < .0001), and previous use of computers before appointment as a unit manager (P < .0001) as the factors that significantly influenced the use of information and communication technology among nurse managers.