Maternity Waiting Homes (MWHs) are a key strategy for improving maternal health by bringing expectant women closer to health facilities and skilled birth attendants. Despite their potential benefits, a woman’s stay is shaped by various factors, including emotional, social and logistical aspects.

This study aimed to explore the lived experiences of pregnant women using maternity waiting homes in the Ari zone public health facilities, Ethiopia.

A qualitative phenomenological study, grounded in a descriptive (Husserlian) phenomenological orientation and analysed using Colaizzi’s seven-step framework.

Public health facilities providing MWH services in the Ari zone, southern Ethiopia, ranging from a zonal hospital to primary health centres.

15 pregnant women, who had stayed in an MWH for at least 1 week during their current pregnancy, selected using purposive sampling until data saturation was reached.

We conducted in-depth interviews from 15 June 2025 to 15 July 2025 to match the Study Area and Period section. The data were transcribed, translated and thematically analysed with Open Code software V.4.02 to identify key themes and subthemes. The rigour of the study was ensured by applying Guba’s trustworthiness criteria, with a focus on credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability.

Based on the findings, the experiences of women in maternity waiting homes centred on four main themes. Emotionally, women faced both isolation and anxiety from being away from home but also felt comfort and relief from being near medical care. Socially, they found support from other women and were influenced by the attitudes of health staff while also carrying the burden of family and cultural concerns. Practical challenges included significant financial burdens, lack of food and inadequate facilities. Despite these difficulties, women ultimately valued the homes for the increased confidence and improved access to skilled care they provided for a safer birth.

A woman’s experience in an MWH is shaped by a mix of emotional, social, infrastructural and cultural factors. To improve the use of MWHs and maternal health outcomes, it is crucial to enhance the quality of these facilities, offer psychosocial support and involve communities. Future intervention studies should test whether targeted psychosocial and food-security support measurably improve women’s experiences and MWH uptake.

To estimate the carbon footprint of a vaccine trial conducted in Uganda and to identify opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in future trials.

Retrospective carbon footprint assessment of all trial-related activities conducted in Uganda (ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT02991495), following the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and the guidance provided by the Low Carbon Clinical Trials Group.

The activities related to the yellow fever vaccine fractional dose trial implemented in Mbarara, with contributions from international collaborators.

The study assessed processes; no participants have been included.

Trial activities were retrospectively quantified and converted into a greenhouse gas estimate using publicly available emission factors. The boundaries of the study were defined to cover the set-up, implementation and close-out phases. Emissions were categorised by source, including personnel, travel, medical supply and laboratory.

The vaccine trial produced an estimated 224.66 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO₂e). The largest emission category was related to the research centres, accounting for 78.80 tCO₂e (35.07%), with the Mbarara research centre representing 75.74 tCO₂e (32.38%), including commuting (21.01 tCO₂e), waste disposal (19.31 tCO₂e), goods and services (18.66 tCO₂e) and energy (13.75 tCO₂e). International travel, including air, non-air travel and accommodation accounted for 59.37 tonnes CO₂e (26.43%), with the majority attributed to air travel (53.60 CO₂e). Additional contributors included road travel by trial team and participants’ travel to attend trial’s visits. The storage of samples at –80°C in ultra-dry freezers was not a significant contributor due to the low volume of samples stored. However, important differences were observed in sample storage emissions between settings that relied more heavily on oil-based electricity and those with greater dependence on hydroelectric power.

This study highlights multiple opportunities to reduce the carbon emissions of clinical trials. These include already recognised actions such as higher use of solar energy and reduction of international travel. Nevertheless, to improve sustainability of trials, attention should be given to all controllable processes across the trial lifecycle and not solely to the main drivers of emissions. For this, environmental considerations should be present from the initial trial conception phase, involving for instance decisions about the number of trial visits and where these are conducted and taking rational decisions about the long-term storage of samples.

Frostbite is a common reason for emergency department (ED) presentations in Canada. Iloprost, a prostacyclin analogue, has been investigated to reduce the risk of amputation with its use expanding. Two Canadian cities implemented iloprost over different times leading to a practice variation that allowed for treatment comparison. Our objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of iloprost compared with non-iloprost treatment. Secondary objectives include assessing the impact of iloprost dosage and homelessness.

A retrospective cohort study was conducted on adult severe frostbite cases presenting to EDs in Calgary and Edmonton between November 2021 and April 2024. Data were abstracted from clinical databases and analysed for demographic and injury characteristics, treatment and amputation outcomes.

Of 1812 total ED encounters for frostbite, 257 patients with grades 2–4 extremity frostbite were included for analysis. Logistic regression found that overall patients receiving iloprost were associated with reduced likelihood of any amputation (OR=0.49, 95% CI 0.25 to 0.96) and fewer digit amputations (p

Iloprost infusion was associated with a reduction in amputation rates in grade 3 and 4 frostbite with the greatest association seen in grade 3 cases. Greater iloprost dosage was associated with improved digit salvage. Homelessness was associated with delayed ED presentation.