Sickle Cell Disease Obstetric Multi-Disciplinary Care Programme (SCOB-II)

Ghana, has a high burden of sickle cell disease (SCD), with a disproportionately high maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. In 2015, the investigators established a multidisciplinary SCD Obstetrics team to implement low-technology evidence-based protocols (EBP) to prevent and treat acute chest syndrome (ACS), which is the leading cause of maternal death, institute maternal and fetal monitoring, and ensure better-coordinated care for in-patients. These interventions resulted in an 89.1% risk reduction in maternal mortality over 13 months. The investigators have designed an implementation protocol that allows for the systematic tailoring and implementation of this EBP at facilities that employ few (or no) specialized physicians.

The critical and unanswered question is: can the dramatic reduction in maternal and perinatal mortalities observed at KBTH be maintained and replicated with high fidelity at other tertiary hospitals in Ghana? This study, set in a region with the world's highest SCD prevalence, has the potential to impact maternal and neonatal mortality by tailoring evidence-based protocols to facilitate use by non-specialized health care providers. This project has the potential to change the way pregnant women with SCD are managed in Ghana and the rest of sub-Saharan Africa. If successful, this study will form a blueprint for the scale-up of this evidence-based protocol across the country and the West Africa sub-region, where pregnant women with SCD face an uncertain future. Additionally, the project can serve as a model for training clinical researchers, public health, and social scientists in implementation science for major interventions in maternal and perinatal health in Ghana.

The investigators propose a standards care prospective protocol to test the following two primary hypotheses:

1. After implementing a hospital-tailored task-shifting intervention program in the tertiary hospitals, there will be a 60% relative risk reduction in maternal mortality among pregnant women with SCD.
2. A. There will be at least a 90% fidelity to evidence-based guidelines for the prevention of ACS for women with SCD at high risk for ACS (acute pain and post-surgery) B. There will be at least a 90% fidelity to evidence-based guidelines for the treatment of ACS for women with SCD at high risk for ACS (acute pain and post-surgery)

This will be a multi-center prospective cohort study involving pregnant women with SCD who attend antenatal care at three referral hospitals. Participants will be enrolled from the booking visit over 18 months and managed with the evidence-based clinical guidelines plus multi-disciplinary team standard care protocol and followed up prospectively until delivery and up to six weeks after delivery.