Pregnancy

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Maternity services

Afghanistan

• BMC Public Health
  • Coverage and inequalities in maternal and child health interventions in Afghanistan [2016]

• Conflict and Health
  • Availability and distribution of human resources for provision of comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care in Afghanistan: a cross-sectional study [2015]

Africa

• International Journal for Equity in Health
  • Cost and impact of policies to remove and reduce fees for obstetric care in Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Morocco [2016]

• Journal of Global Health
  • Factors associated with age-specific maternal health-seeking behaviours among women: A Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey-based study in 10 African countries [2022]

• PLoS ONE
  • The continuum of care for maternal health in Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis [2024]

Albania

• PLoS ONE
  • Quality of Maternal and Neonatal Care in Albania, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan: A Systematic, Standard-Based, Participatory Assessment [2011]

Angola

• Journal of Global Health
  • Association between the quality of care and continuous maternal and child health service utilisation in Angola: Longitudinal data analysis [2023]

Australia

• Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
  • The role of Australian clinical quality registries in pregnancy care: A scoping review [2022]

• Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health
  • Self-determination in programmes of perinatal health for Aboriginal Communities: A systematic review [2024]

• Australian College of Midwives
  • National Midwifery Guidelines for Consultation and Referral [2021]

• Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
  • National Core Maternity Indicators
  • Maternity models of care

• Better Safer Care
  • Maternity and newborn services user guide

• Department of Health and Aged Care
  • Woman-centred care: Strategic directions for Australian maternity services [2019]

• International Journal of Medical Informatics
  • An assessment of ten popular pregnancy applications (Apps) available for women in Australia [2024]

• Midwifery
  • Maternal residential area effects on preterm birth, low birth weight and caesarean section in Australia: A systematic review [2023]

• NSW Health
  • Maternity care in NSW
  • Maternity and Neonatal Service Capability
  • Maternity - Safety and Quality Essentials

• PLoS ONE
  • 'Great in theory': Women's care experiences in relation to Australia's national maternity Strategy-Qualitative survey responses [2025]

• Queensland Health
  • Standard care
  • Maternity shared care
  • Maternity services

• Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
  • Shared Maternity Care in Australia [2021]
  • Obstetric and Gynaecology Services in Rural and Remote Regions in Australia [2020]
  • Maternity Care in Australia [2017]

• SA Health
  • Perinatal Emergency Education Strategy Policy
  • Perinatal Advice and Emergency Transport
  • GP Obstetric Shared Care

• Women and Birth
  • Does maternity care in Australia align with the national maternity Strategy? Findings from a national survey of women's experiences [2024]

Azerbaijan

• BioMed Research International
  • The Effect of Maternal Healthcare on the Probability of Child Survival in Azerbaijan [2014]

Bangladesh

• BioMed Research International
  • Socioeconomic correlates of Adequate Maternal Care in Bangladesh: Analysis of the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2017-18 [2022]

• BMC Health Services Research
  • Perceptions of health care providers and patients on quality of care in maternal and neonatal health in fourteen Bangladesh government healthcare facilities: a mixed-method study [2015]

• BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
  • Progress in the utilization of antenatal and delivery care services in Bangladesh: where does the equity gap lie? [2016]

• BMJ Open
  • Relationship between maternal healthcare utilisation and empowerment among women in Bangladesh: evidence from a nationally representative cross-sectional study [2021]

• International Journal for Equity in Health
  • Trends in equity in use of maternal health services in urban and rural Bangladesh [2016]
  • Social inequalities in the utilization of maternal care in Bangladesh: Have they widened or narrowed in recent years? [2014]
  • Equity in reproductive and maternal health services in Bangladesh [2013]

• Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition
  • Public-sector Maternal Health Programmes and Services for Rural Bangladesh [2009]

Bangladesh, Pakistan

• Reproductive Health
  • Comparison of inequality in utilization of maternal healthcare services between Bangladesh and Pakistan: evidence from the demographic health survey 2017-2018 [2023]

Benin

• Reproductive Health
  • The effects of geographical accessibility to health facilities on antenatal care and delivery services utilization in Benin: a cross-sectional study [2021]

Brazil

• Reproductive Health
  • Adequacy of public maternal care services in Brazil [2016]

Burkina Faso

• BMC Health Services Research
  • Temporal trends analysis of emergency obstetric and newborn care availability and readiness index of healthcare facilities in Burkina Faso [2024]
  • Evaluating quality of obstetric care in low-resource settings: Building on the literature to design tailor-made evaluation instruments - an illustration in Burkina Faso [2010]

• BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
  • The obstetric care subsidy policy in Burkina Faso: what are the effects after five years of implementation? Findings of a complex evaluation [2016]

• Health Policy and Planning
  • How do free healthcare policies impact utilization of maternal and child health services in fragile settings? Evidence from a controlled interrupted time series analysis in Burkina Faso [2024]

• PLoS ONE
  • Reflections on the Unintended Consequences of the Promotion of Institutional Pregnancy and Birth Care in Burkina Faso [2016]
  • Reducing the Medical Cost of Deliveries in Burkina Faso Is Good for Everyone, Including the Poor [2012]

• World Health Organization
  • Investing the marginal dollar for maternal and newborn health: geographic accessibility analysis for emergency obstetric care services in Burkina Faso [2016]

Cambodia

• BMC Health Services Research
  • Sociodemographic characteristics associated with the utilization of maternal health services in Cambodia [2020]

• BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
  • Determinants of the continuum of maternal health care in Cambodia: an analysis of the Cambodia demographic health survey 2014 [2021]

• BMJ Open
  • Measuring effective coverage of maternal and child health services in Cambodia: a retrospective analysis of Demographic and Health Surveys from 2005 to 2014 [2022]

• International Journal for Equity in Health
  • A decade of improvements in equity of access to reproductive and maternal health services in Cambodia, 2000–2010 [2013]

• World Health Organization
  • Investing the marginal dollar for maternal and newborn health: geographic accessibility analysis for emergency obstetric care services in Cambodia [2016]

Cameroon

• Reproductive Health
  • Predictors of skilled birth attendance among married women in Cameroon: further analysis of 2018 Cameroon Demographic and Health Survey [2021]

Canada

• BMC Health Services Research
  • The safety of Canadian rural maternity services: a multi-jurisdictional cohort analysis [2015]

• BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
  • Indigenous maternal health and health services within Canada: a scoping review [2023]

• Canadian Family Physician
  • Sustaining rural maternity and surgical care [2016]
  • New approaches for rural maternity care [2012]

• CMAJ
  • Differences in obstetric care among nulliparous First Nations and non–First Nations women in British Columbia, Canada [2015]

• Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada
  • Rural Maternity Care [2017]

• Systematic Reviews
  • Immigrant women’s experiences of maternity-care services in Canada: a systematic review using a narrative synthesis [2015]

China

• BMC Health Services Research
  • China’s human resources for maternal and child health: a national sampling survey [2015]

• Global Health Action
  • Disadvantaged populations in maternal health in China – Who and Why? [2013]

• International Journal for Equity in Health
  • Analysis of inequality in maternal and child health outcomes and mortality from 2000 to 2013 in China [2017]

Cyprus

• BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
  • Exploring mothers' experiences of perinatal care in Cyprus: Babies Born Better survey [2023]

Democratic Republic of Congo

• BMC Health Services Research
  • Maternal education level and maternal healthcare utilization in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: an analysis of the multiple indicator cluster survey 2017/18 [2021]

• BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
  • Trends of maternal health service coverage in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: a pooled cross-sectional study of MICS 2010 to 2018 [2021]

• Reproductive Health
  • Distribution and quality of emergency obstetric care service delivery in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: it is time to improve regulatory mechanisms [2019]

Developing countries

• PLoS ONE
  • Measuring Quality of Maternal and Newborn Care in Developing Countries Using Demographic and Health Surveys [2016]

East Africa

• BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
  • Barriers and facilitators to maternal healthcare in East Africa: a systematic review and qualitative synthesis of perspectives from women, their families, healthcare providers, and key stakeholders [2025]

• BMC Public Health
  • Temporal trends in spatial inequalities of maternal and newborn health services among four east African countries, 1999–2015 [2018]

• PLoS ONE
  • Equality in Maternal and Newborn Health: Modelling Geographic Disparities in Utilisation of Care in Five East African Countries [2016]

Egypt

• PLoS ONE
  • Socio-Economic Gradients in Maternal and Child Health-Seeking Behaviours in Egypt: Systematic Literature Review and Evidence Synthesis [2014]

Ethiopia

• BMC Health Services Research
  • Identifying geographical inequalities of maternal care utilization in Ethiopia: a Spatio-temporal analysis from 2005 to 2019 [2022]

• BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
  • Multilevel analysis of the predictors of completion of the continuum of maternity care in Ethiopia; using the recent 2019 Ethiopia mini demographic and health survey [2022]
  • Benefits, barriers and enablers of maternity waiting homes utilization in Ethiopia: an integrative review of national implementation experience to date [2022]
  • Optimum maternal healthcare service utilization and infant mortality in Ethiopia [2021]
  • Distribution of maternity waiting homes and their correlation with perinatal mortality and direct obstetric complication rates in Ethiopia [2019]

• BMC Public Health
  • Women's utilisation of quality antenatal care, intrapartum care and postnatal care services in Ethiopia: a population-based study using the demographic and health survey data [2023]
  • Spatiotemporal distribution and bivariate binary analysis of antenatal and delivery care utilizations in Ethiopia: EDHS 2000-2016 [2023]

• BMJ Open
  • Trends and inequalities in women's use of quality antenatal care, intrapartum care, and immediate postnatal care services in Ethiopia: multivariate decomposition, secondary data analyses of four demographic and health surveys over two decades (2001-2019) [2025]
  • Prevalence of completion of maternity continuum of care and its associated factors in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis [2022]

• European Journal of Medical Research
  • Intention to use maternal waiting home and its predictors among pregnant women in Ethiopia: systematic review and meta-analysis [2023]

• Global Health: Science and Practice
  • Maternal Service Coverage and Its Relationship To Health Information System Performance: A Linked Facility and Population-Based Survey in Ethiopia [2022]

• Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition
  • Inequalities in adherence to the continuum of maternal and child health service utilization in Ethiopia: multilevel analysis [2021]

• PLoS ONE
  • Cost-effectiveness of implementing performance-based financing for improving maternal and child health in Ethiopia [2024]
  • Determinants of continuum of care for maternal, newborn, and child health services in Ethiopia: Analysis of the modified composite coverage index using a quantile regression approach [2023]
  • Decomposition analysis of women's empowerment-based inequalities in the use of maternal health care services in Ethiopia: Evidence from Demographic and Health Surveys [2023]
  • Coverage of antenatal, intrapartum, and newborn care in 104 districts of Ethiopia: A before and after study four years after the launch of the national Community-Based Newborn Care programme [2021]

• Reproductive Health
  • Trends and contributors of complete continuum of maternal healthcare service utilization in Ethiopia: a multivariate decomposition analyses [2025]
  • Inequities in maternal health services utilization in Ethiopia 2000–2016: magnitude, trends, and determinants [2018]

• Women's Health
  • Maternal satisfaction with emergency obstetric and newborn care services in Ethiopia and the associated factors: A systematic review and meta-analysis [2023]

Europe

• BMC Health Services Research
  • Assessing the performance of maternity care in Europe: a critical exploration of tools and indicators [2015]

• European Standards of Care for Newborn Health
  • Organisation of perinatal care
  • Maternal transfer for specialist care

• Nurse Education in Practice
  • Strengthening global midwifery education to improve quality maternity care: Co-designing the World Health Organization Midwifery Assessment Tool for Education (MATE) [2022]

• WHO European Region
  • Midwifery Assessment Tool for Education (MATE) [2020]

Ghana

• BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
  • Distance is "a big problem": a geographic analysis of reported and modelled proximity to maternal health services in Ghana [2022]
  • Is the National Health Insurance Scheme helping pregnant women in accessing health services? Analysis of the 2014 Ghana demographic and Health survey [2021]
  • Are Ghanaian women meeting the WHO recommended maternal healthcare (MCH) utilisation? Evidence from a national survey [2021]

• BMJ Open
  • Health insurance determines antenatal, delivery and postnatal care utilisation: evidence from the Ghana Demographic and Health Surveillance data [2016]

• Journal of Global Health
  • Impact of Ghana's fee exemption policy on maternal health service utilisation: an inverse probability of treatment weighting analysis of pooled national data [2025]

Haiti

• World Health Organization
  • Free obstetric care in Haiti [2010]

High-income countries

• BMJ Open
  • Impact of obstetric unit closures, travel time and distance to obstetric services on maternal and neonatal outcomes in high-income countries: a systematic review [2020]

• Midwifery
  • Interventions to improve enablers and/or overcome barriers to seeking care during pregnancy, birthing and postnatal period for women living with vulnerabilities in high-income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis [2023]

• Social Science & Medicine
  • Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of models of maternity care for women from migrant and refugee backgrounds in high-income countries: A systematic review [2024]

Iceland

• Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica
  • Challenges in migrant women’s maternity care in a high-income country: A population-based cohort study of maternal and perinatal outcomes [2021]

India

• Annals of Global Health
  • Coverage of Quality Maternal and Newborn Healthcare Services in India: Examining Dropouts, Disparity and Determinants [2022]

• BMC Health Services Research
  • Predictors of the utilisation of continuum of maternal health care services in India [2022]
  • Inefficiency, heterogeneity and spillover effects in maternal care in India: a spatial stochastic frontier analysis [2015]

• BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
  • Measurement and mapping of maternal health service coverage through a novel composite index: a sub-national level analysis in India [2022]
  • Maternal health care service utilization among young married women in India, 1992–2016: trends and determinants [2021]

• BMJ Open
  • Trends in the utilisation of maternal and child healthcare services from the public and private health sectors in India, 2005-2021: an analysis of cross-sectional survey data [2025]
  • Is economic inequality in maternal and child healthcare decreasing in India? Trends between 2005-2006, 2015-2016 and 2019-2021 [2025]
  • Population-level trends over a decade in geographical inequality for opportunity in access to maternal care services: a cross-sectional analysis from the National Family Health Surveys in India [2024]

• Ethiopian Journal of Health Sciences
  • Has Muslim Got Benefited from the National Health Mission? A Situational Analysis of Maternal Health Services in India [2020]

• Human Resources for Health
  • Does engagement with frontline health workers improve maternal and child healthcare utilisation and outcomes in India? [2021]

• International Journal for Equity in Health
  • Horizontal inequity in the utilisation of Continuum of Maternal Health care Services (CMHS) in India: an investigation of ten years of National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) [2022]

• Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition
  • What does quality of care mean for maternal health providers from two vulnerable states of India? Case study of Bihar and Jharkhand [2016]

• Ministry of Health and Family Welfare India
  • Guidelines on Operationalization of Midwifery Units [2023]

• PLoS ONE
  • Referrals between Public Sector Health Institutions for Women with Obstetric High Risk, Complications, or Emergencies in India – A Systematic Review [2016]
  • High Spending on Maternity Care in India: What Are the Factors Explaining It? [2016]

• Public Health Reviews
  • Social determinants of maternal health: a scoping review of factors influencing maternal mortality and maternal health service use in India [2020]

• Scientific Reports
  • Trends and determinants of maternal health services utilization in India from 2015 to 2021 [2025]

Indonesia

• BMC Public Health
  • The determinant of health insurance ownership among pregnant women in Indonesia [2021]

• BMJ Open
  • Optimal utilization of maternal health service in Indonesia: a cross-sectional study of Riskesdas 2018 [2023]

• F1000Research
  • Determinants of maternal healthcare service utilisation among Indonesian mothers: A population-based study [2022]

• Family Medicine and Community Health
  • Continuity of maternal healthcare services utilisation in Indonesia: analysis of determinants from the Indonesia Demographic and Health Survey [2021]

• International Journal of Women's Health
  • Trends and inequities in use of maternal health care services in Indonesia, 1986–2012 [2018]

• PLoS ONE
  • Analysis of antenatal care, intranatal care and postnatal care utilization: Findings from the 2017 Indonesian Demographic and Health Survey [2021]

International

• BMC Medicine
  • Prevention and control of non-communicable diseases in antenatal, intrapartum, and postnatal care: a systematic scoping review of clinical practice guidelines since 2011 [2022]

• BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
  • Human-centered design and maternity care: is this a possible interplay?-a systematic review [2025]
  • Geographic information system for improving maternal and newborn health: recommendations for policy and programs [2017]
  • Scaling up quality care for mothers and newborns around the time of birth: an overview of methods and analyses of intervention-specific bottlenecks and solutions [2015]

• BMJ Open
  • Self-care interventions for preconception, antenatal, intrapartum and postpartum care: a scoping review [2023]

• Gaceta Sanitaria
  • An overview of the implementation of the continuity of care model in maternal health services: A literature review [2021]

• Implementation Science
  • Expanding the evidence base for global recommendations on health systems: strengths and challenges of the OptimizeMNH guidance process [2016]

• International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics
  • Childbirth: A Bill of Rights [2021]

• Lancet Global Health
  • Measuring quality of care for all women and newborns: how do we know if we are doing it right? A review of facility assessment tools [2019]

• PLoS ONE
  • Barriers and enablers for implementation of clinical practice guidelines in maternity and neonatal settings: A rapid review [2024]

• Reproductive Health
  • Implementation, effectiveness, and barriers of obstetric triage in reducing waiting time: a scoping review [2025]

• United Nations Population Fund
  • The State of the World's Midwifery 2021 [2021]
  • Implementation Manual for Developing a National Network of Maternity Units [2020]

Iran

• Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal
  • Improving the health status of Afghan mothers living in the Islamic Republic of Iran [2023]

Iraq

• BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
  • Quality of maternal and newborn health care at private hospitals in Iraq: a cross-sectional study [2023]

Ireland

• Department of Health Ireland
  • Stratification of clinical risk in pregnancy [2020]
  • Clinical Handover in Maternity Services [2020]
  • Irish Maternity Early Warning System (IMEWS) Version 2 [2019]

• Health Information and Quality Authority
  • Guide to maternity standards monitoring programme - revised [2019]
  • National Standards for Safer Better Maternity Services [2016]

• Ireland's Health Services
  • Maternity Safety Statements

• Journal of Clinical Epidemiology
  • ADAPTE with modified Delphi supported developing a National Clinical Guideline: stratification of clinical risk in pregnancy [2022]

Jordan

• Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare
  • Evaluation of maternal and newborn health services in Jordan [2018]

Kenya

• BMJ Global Health
  • Impact of free maternity policies in Kenya: an interrupted time-series analysis [2021]

• BMJ Open
  • Examining the quality of care across the continuum of maternal care (antenatal, perinatal and postnatal care) under the expanded free maternity policy (Linda Mama Policy) in Kenya: a mixed-methods study [2024]

• International Journal of Health Policy and Management
  • Examining the Implementation of the Free Maternity Services Policy in Kenya: A Mixed Methods Process Evaluation [2018]

• PLoS ONE
  • Quality of maternity care and its determinants along the continuum in Kenya: A structural equation modeling analysis [2017]

Laos

• BMC Public Health
  • Trends of socioeconomic inequality in using maternal health care services in Lao People’s Democratic Republic from year 2000 to 2012 [2018]

• World Health Organization
  • Investing the marginal dollar for maternal and newborn health: geographic accessibility analysis for emergency obstetric care services in Lao People's Democratic Republic [2016]

Lesotho

• PLoS ONE
  • Comprehensive Approach to Improving Maternal Health and Achieving MDG 5: Report from the Mountains of Lesotho [2012]

Low and middle income countries

• Annals of Global Health
  • Maternity Waiting Home Interventions as a Strategy for Improving Birth Outcomes: A Scoping Review and Meta-Analysis [2022]

• BMC Health Services Research
  • Effective coverage of maternal and neonatal healthcare services in low-and middle-income countries: a scoping review [2024]
  • Social capital and maternal and child health services uptake in low- and middle-income countries: mixed methods systematic review [2021]
  • Assessment of facility readiness for implementing the WHO/UNICEF standards for improving quality of maternal and newborn care in health facilities – experiences from UNICEF’s implementation in three countries of South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa [2018]

• BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making
  • Effect of short message service reminders in improving optimal antenatal care, skilled birth attendance and postnatal care in low-and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis [2024]

• BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
  • Effects of demand-side financing on utilisation, experiences and outcomes of maternity care in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review [2014]
  • Cost-effectiveness of strategies to improve the utilization and provision of maternal and newborn health care in low-income and lower-middle-income countries: a systematic review [2014]

• BMC Public Health
  • Interventions to enhance healthcare utilisation among pregnant women to reduce maternal mortality in low- and middle-income countries: a review of systematic reviews [2023]

• BMC Women's Health
  • Key barriers to the provision and utilization of maternal health services in low-and lower-middle-income countries; a scoping review [2024]

• BMJ Global Health
  • Design, coverage and utilisation of maternity conditional cash programmes in low- and middle-income countries: a scoping review [2025]

• BMJ Open
  • Capacity and quality of maternal and child health services delivery at the subnational primary healthcare level in relation to intermediate health outputs: a cross-sectional study of 12 low-income and middle-income countries [2023]

• Frontiers in Public Health
  • Private sector quality interventions to improve maternal and newborn health in low- and middle-income countries: a scoping review [2025]
  • Inequity in uptake of maternal health care services in developing countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis [2024]

• Global Health Action
  • Strategies for improving health care seeking for maternal and newborn illnesses in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis [2016]
  • Assessing emergency obstetric care provision in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review of the application of global guidelines [2016]
  • The use of cell phones and radio communication systems to reduce delays in getting help for pregnant women in low- and middle-income countries: a scoping review [2015]

• Healthcare
  • Challenges in Maternal and Child Health Services Delivery and Access during Pandemics or Public Health Disasters in Low-and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review [2021]

• Implementation Science
  • Barriers and enablers to guideline implementation strategies to improve obstetric care practice in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review of qualitative evidence [2016]

• International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
  • Utilisation of Skilled Birth Attendant in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Trajectories and Key Sociodemographic Factors [2021]

• Journal of Global Health
  • Maternal health policy environment and the relationship with service utilization in low- and middle-income countries [2023]

• PLoS ONE
  • Understanding service users and other stakeholders' engagement in maternal and newborn health services research: A systematic review of evidence from low- and middle-income countries [2024]

• Rural and Remote Health
  • Access to maternal health services for Indigenous women in low- and middle-income countries: an updated integrative review of the literature from 2018 to 2023 [2024]

• Systematic Reviews
  • Utilization of maternal healthcare services in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis [2025]

• Women's Health
  • Women decision-making autonomy on maternal health service and associated factors in low- and middle-income countries: Systematic review and meta-analysis [2022]

Low-income countries

• BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
  • Maternal health interventions in resource limited countries: a systematic review of packages, impacts and factors for change [2011]

Malawi

• BMC Health Services Research
  • Ending preventable maternal deaths in Malawi: the stakeholders consensus approach to identify maternal health needs priorities [2025]

• World Health Organization
  • Investing the marginal dollar for maternal and newborn health: geographic accessibility analysis for emergency obstetric care services in Malawi [2016]

Mali

• BMJ Open
  • Individual and contextual factors associated with maternal healthcare utilisation in Mali: a cross-sectional study using Demographic and Health Survey data [2022]

Mexico

• BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
  • Measuring progress in maternal and newborn health care in Mexico: validating indicators of health system contact and quality of care [2016]

• PLoS ONE
  • A Performance Analysis of Public Expenditure on Maternal Health in Mexico [2016]

Mozambique

• International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
  • Factors Associated with Underutilization of Maternity Health Care Cascade in Mozambique: Analysis of the 2015 National Health Survey [2022]

Myanmar

• BMC Health Services Research
  • Maternal and child health voucher scheme in Myanmar: a review of early stage implementation [2016]

• PLoS ONE
  • Determinants of institutional maternity services utilization in Myanmar [2022]

Nepal

• BioMed Research International
  • Trends and Inequalities in Use of Maternal Health Care Services in Nepal: Strategy in the Search for Improvements [2017]

• BMC Public Health
  • Trends in national and subnational wealth related inequalities in use of maternal health care services in Nepal: an analysis using demographic and health surveys (2001–2016) [2021]
  • Intersectional (in) equities in contact coverage of maternal and newborn health services in Nepal: insights from a nationwide cross-sectional household survey [2021]

• BMJ Global Health
  • Spatial profiling of geographical accessibility to maternal healthcare and coverage of maternal health service utilisation in Nepal: a geospatial analysis based on demographic and health survey [2025]

• Demographic and Health Surveys
  • Equity Analysis of Maternal Health Services in Nepal: Trends and Determinants, 2011–2022 Nepal DHS Surveys [2024]

• International Journal of Public Health
  • Investigating Health Inequality Using Trend, Decomposition and Spatial Analyses: A Study of Maternal Health Service Use in Nepal [2023]

• PLoS ONE
  • Continuum of care for maternal and newborn health services in Nepal: An analysis from demographic and health survey 2022 [2025]
  • Basic emergency obstetric and newborn care service availability and readiness in Nepal: Analysis of the 2015 Nepal Health Facility Survey [2021]

• Public Health Reviews
  • Improving maternal health services through social accountability interventions in Nepal: an analytical review of existing literature [2020]

• Reproductive Health
  • High coverage but low quality of maternal and newborn health services in the coverage cascade: who is benefitted and left behind in accessing better quality health services in Nepal? [2022]

Netherlands

• PLoS ONE
  • Maternal characteristics associated with referral to obstetrician-led care in low-risk pregnant women in the Netherlands: A retrospective cohort study [2023]
  • Geographical, Ethnic and Socio-Economic Differences in Utilization of Obstetric Care in the Netherlands [2016]

New Zealand

• Health New Zealand
  • HISO 10050:2023 Maternity Care Summary Standard [2023]
  • Guidelines for Consultation with Obstetric and Related Medical Services (Referral Guidelines) [2023]
  • Maternity

• Ministry of Health New Zealand
  • Evaluation Report: Pregnancy and Parenting Services [2022]

Nigeria

• BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
  • Coverage-level and predictors of maternity continuum of care in Nigeria: implications for maternal, newborn and child health programming [2023]
  • Patterns and determinants of dropout from maternity care continuum in Nigeria [2016]

• BMC Public Health
  • Maternal and child health interventions in Nigeria: a systematic review of published studies from 1990 to 2014 [2015]

• BMC Women's Health
  • Is there a link between the autonomy of women and maternal healthcare utilization in Nigeria? A cross-sectional survey [2023]

• BMJ Open
  • Multivariate decomposition of trends, inequalities and predictors of skilled birth attendants utilisation in Nigeria (1990-2018): a cross-sectional analysis of change drivers [2022]
  • Factors consistently associated with utilisation of essential maternal and child health services in Nigeria: analysis of the five Nigerian national household surveys (2003-2018) [2022]

• Pan African Medical Journal
  • National and subnational variations in gender relations and the utilization of maternal healthcare services in Nigeria [2022]
  • Determinants of antenatal care, institutional delivery and postnatal care services utilization in Nigeria [2015]

Norway

• BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
  • Use of non-governmental maternity services and pregnancy outcomes among undocumented women: a cohort study from Norway [2022]

Pakistan

• Computational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine
  • Bayesian Analysis of Trends in Utilization of Maternal Healthcare Services in Pakistan during 2006-2018 [2021]

• Conflict and Health
  • Impact of service provision platforms on maternal and newborn health in conflict areas and their acceptability in Pakistan: a systematic review [2015]

• Health Research Policy and Systems
  • Who is excluded and how? An analysis of community spaces for maternal and child health in Pakistan [2015]

Papua New Guinea

• BMJ Open
  • Readiness of health facilities to provide emergency obstetric care in Papua New Guinea: evidence from a cross-sectional survey [2022]

• Global Health: Science and Practice
  • National Politics' Role in Developing Primary Health Care Policy for Maternal Health in Papua New Guinea: A Qualitative Document Analysis [2024]

Poland

• Midwifery
  • The "Blessing" of Pregnancy? Barriers to accessing adequate maternal care in Poland: A mixed-method study among women, healthcare providers, and decision-makers [2023]

Republic of Guinea

• BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
  • Evaluation of maternal and child care continuum in Guinea: a secondary analysis of two demographic and health surveys using the composite coverage index (CCI) [2023]

• Risk Management and Healthcare Policy
  • Realizing universal health coverage for maternal health services in the Republic of Guinea: the use of workforce projections to design health labor market interventions [2014]

Republic of Korea

• BMJ Open
  • Is limited access to obstetric services associated with adverse birth outcomes? A cross-sectional study of Korean national birth data [2022]

Rwanda

• BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
  • Evaluating continuum of maternal and newborn healthcare in Rwanda: evidence from the 2019-2020 Rwanda demographic health survey [2022]

• BMJ Global Health
  • Temporal trends in coverage, quality and equity of maternal and child health services in Rwanda, 2000–2015 [2020]

Senegal

• Tropical Medicine & International Health
  • Stability of healthcare quality measures for maternal and child services: Analysis of the continuous service provision assessment of health facilities in Senegal, 2012-2018 [2022]

Sierra Leone

• BMC Health Services Research
  • Measuring coverage of maternal and child health services using routine health facility data: a Sierra Leone case study [2021]

• PLoS ONE
  • Inequalities in maternal healthcare use in Sierra Leone: Evidence from the 2008-2019 Demographic and Health Surveys [2022]

South Africa

• BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
  • Growing inequities in maternal health in South Africa: a comparison of serial national household surveys [2016]

• National Department of Health South Africa
  • National Integrated Maternal and Perinatal Care Guidelines for South Africa [2024]
  • Guidelines for Maternity Care in South Africa [2016]

South Asia

• Globalization and Health
  • Approaches towards improving the quality of maternal and newborn health services in South Asia: challenges and opportunities for healthcare systems [2018]

South Pacific

• Maternal and Child Health Journal
  • Alternative measures of spatial distribution and availability of health facilities for the delivery of emergency obstetric services in island communities [2014]

South-East Asia

• International Journal for Equity in Health
  • Inequity of maternal-child health services in ASEAN member states from 1993 to 2021 [2023]

• Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare
  • The utilization of maternal health services at primary healthcare setting in Southeast Asian Countries: A systematic review of the literature [2022]

Sri Lanka

• Ceylon Medical Journal
  • Maternal health in Sri Lanka: 75 years of national commitment towards excellence [2023]

Sub-Saharan Africa

• BMC Health Services Research
  • Continuum of care for maternal, newborn, and child health in 17 sub-Saharan African countries [2022]

• BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
  • Effect of pregnancy intention on completion of maternity continuum of care in Sub-Saharan Africa: systematic review and meta-analysis [2024]
  • Coverage and factors associated with completion of continuum of care for maternal health in sub-Saharan Africa: a multicountry analysis [2022]
  • Quality of care in the free maternal healthcare era in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review of providers’ and managers’ perceptions [2021]
  • Quality and women’s satisfaction with maternal referral practices in sub-Saharan African low and lower-middle income countries: a systematic review [2020]

• BMJ Open
  • Maternal healthcare utilsation and complete childhood vaccination in sub-Saharan Africa: a cross-sectional study of 29 nationally representative surveys [2021]

• International Health
  • Towards achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 3: multilevel analyses of demographic and health survey data on health insurance coverage and maternal healthcare utilisation in sub-Saharan Africa [2023]

• JMIR mHealth and uHealth
  • Evaluating the Adoption of mHealth Technologies by Community Health Workers to Improve the Use of Maternal Health Services in Sub-Saharan Africa: Systematic Review [2024]

• Journal of Global Health
  • Utilisation and associated socio-demographic factors related to the maternal continuum of care in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis [2024]

• PLoS ONE
  • The mHealth clinical decision-making tools for maternal and perinatal health care in Sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review [2025]
  • Mathematical modelling to estimate the impact of maternal and perinatal healthcare services and interventions on health in sub-Saharan Africa: A scoping review [2024]
  • Association between frequency of mass media exposure and maternal health care service utilization among women in sub-Saharan Africa: Implications for tailored health communication and education [2022]
  • Women empowerment and skilled birth attendance in sub-Saharan Africa: A multi-country analysis [2021]

Sweden

• BMC Health Services Research
  • Improving care for immigrant women before, during, and after childbirth - what can we learn from regional interventions within a national program in Sweden? [2022]

Tanzania

• Anthropologies of Global Maternal and Reproductive Health
  • The “Sustainability Doctrine” in Donor-Driven Maternal Health Programs in Tanzania [2022]

• BMC Health Services Research
  • Governing the implementation of Emergency Obstetric Care: experiences of Rural District Health Managers, Tanzania [2014]

• BMC Public Health
  • Subnational variation for care at birth in Tanzania: is this explained by place, people, money or drugs? [2016]

• BMJ Open
  • Health facility service availability and readiness to provide basic emergency obstetric and newborn care in a low-resource setting: evidence from a Tanzania National Survey [2019]

• PLoS ONE
  • Multilevel analysis of dropout from maternal continuum of care and its associated factors: Evidence from 2022 Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey [2024]
  • Addressing the huge poor–rich gap of inequalities in accessing safe childbirth care: A first step to achieving universal maternal health coverage in Tanzania [2021]
  • Enhancing Maternal and Perinatal Health in Under-Served Remote Areas in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Tanzanian Model [2016]

Togo

• BMJ Open
  • National optimisation of accessibility to emergency obstetrical and neonatal care in Togo: a geospatial analysis [2021]

• Reproductive Health
  • Socio-economic and cultural factors associated with the utilization of maternal healthcare services in Togo: a cross-sectional study [2023]

Turkey

• Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal
  • Mother-friendly hospital programme of Turkey: national intervention to improve the quality of maternity services [2021]

Uganda

• BMC Health Services Research
  • Can routine health facility data be used to monitor subnational coverage of maternal, newborn and child health services in Uganda? [2021]
  • Determinants of maternal health services utilization in Uganda [2015]

• Ministry of Health Uganda
  • Implementation Guide for Maternity High Dependency Unit (HDU) Set Up And Functionalisation [2023]

• PLoS ONE
  • Continuum of care for maternal health in Uganda: A national cross-sectional study [2022]

• Reproductive Health
  • Female education and maternal health care utilization: evidence from Uganda [2022]

United Kingdom

• BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology
  • Use of induction of labour and emergency caesarean section and perinatal outcomes in English maternity services: a national hospital-level study [2022]
  • Developing a set of consensus indicators to support maternity service quality improvement: using Core Outcome Set methodology including a Delphi process [2018]

• BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
  • Incident reviews in UK maternity units: a systematic appraisal of the quality of local guidelines [2015]

• BMJ Open
  • Costing the impact of interventions during pregnancy in the UK: a systematic review of economic evaluations [2020]

• BMJ Quality & Safety
  • Quality and reporting of large-scale improvement programmes: a review of maternity initiatives in the English NHS, 2010-2023 [2024]

• Care Quality Commission
  • Maternity survey 2023 [2024]

• Department of Health and Social Care
  • Safer maternity care: progress and next steps
  • Safer maternity care
  • Maternity care facilities: planning and design (HBN 09-02)

• Journal of Advanced Nursing
  • Black, Asian and minority ethnic women's experiences of maternity services in the UK: A qualitative evidence synthesis [2022]

• Midwifery
  • Challenging norms: Making non-normative choices in childbearing. Results of a meta ethnographic review of the literature [2023]
  • Preparedness for maternal and neonatal emergencies in UK midwifery units: A national survey using the UK Midwifery Study System (UKMidSS) [2022]

• National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
  • Safe midwifery staffing for maternity settings [2015]
  • Maternity services

• NHS Digital
  • Maternity Services Monthly Statistics

• NHS England
  • Three year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services [2023]
  • Three year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal care technical guidance [2023]
  • Maternity and neonatal voices partnership guidance [2023]
  • Equity and equality: Guidance for local maternity systems [2021]
  • Transforming perinatal safety [2020]
  • Implementing a revised perinatal quality surveillance model [2020]
  • Maternity DMA Report – Digital Maturity Assessment of Maternity Services in England 2018: Supporting documents [2018]
  • Maternity DMA Report – Digital Maturity Assessment of Maternity Services in England 2018 [2018]
  • Implementing Better Births: A resource pack for Local Maternity Systems [2017]
  • Maternity Transformation Programme

• PLoS ONE
  • Local guidelines for admission to UK midwifery units compared with national guidance: A national survey using the UK Midwifery Study System (UKMidSS) [2020]
  • External validity of prevalence estimates from the national maternity surveys in England: The impact of response rate [2020]

• Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
  • Maternity Triage [2023]
  • Providing quality care for women: a framework for maternity service standards [2016]

• Scottish Government
  • Maternity Care Survey

• Society for Acute Medicine
  • Provision of acute medicine services for pregnant women in UK hospitals: Data from the Society for Acute Medicine Benchmarking Audit 2019 [2021]

• UK Parliament
  • Quality and safety of maternity care (England) [2025]

• Welsh Government
  • Maternity Care in Wales [2019]

• WISDOM
  • All Wales Midwifery-Led Care Guideline [2022]

United States

• American Academy of Pediatrics
  • Maternal-Fetal Intervention and Fetal Care Centers [2011]

• American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
  • Levels of Maternal Care [2019]
  • Hospital Disaster Preparedness for Obstetricians and Facilities Providing Maternity Care [2017]
  • Hospital-Based Triage of Obstetric Patients [2016]

• American Family Physician
  • Family Physicians Providing Obstetric Care in Maternity Care Deserts [2022]

• American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology
  • Obstetric Care Consensus #9: Levels of Maternal Care [2019]
  • US and territory telemedicine policies: identifying gaps in perinatal care [2016]

• Frontiers in Public Health
  • A scoping review of maternal health among resettled refugee women in the United States [2023]

• Health Services Research
  • Perinatal care among Hispanic birthing people: Differences by primary language and state policy environment [2024]

• JAMA Health Forum
  • Maternity Care Deserts in the US [2023]

• Journal of Perinatology
  • United States and territory policies supporting maternal and neonatal transfer: review of transport and reimbursement [2015]

• Maternal and Child Health Journal
  • Shackling and pregnancy care policies in US prisons and jails [2023]

• Medical Care
  • Mapping the Location of Health Centers in Relation to “Maternity Care Deserts” [2021]

• Obstetrics & Gynecology
  • Rural and Urban Differences in Insurance Coverage at Prepregnancy, Birth, and Postpartum [2023]

• Seminars in Reproductive Medicine
  • Impact of Digital Health Interventions on Birth Equity: A Review [2024]

• Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine
  • Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Special Statement: Transforming the maternity care team model [2025]
  • Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Special Statement: Utilizing telemedicine to address disparities in maternal-fetal medicine: a call to policy action [2024]
  • Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Special Statement: Clinical quality measures in obstetrics [2024]
  • Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Special Statement: A maternal transport briefing form and checklist [2020]
  • SMFM Special Statement: Who’s who in patient safety and quality for maternal healthcare in the United States [2020]
  • SMFM Special Statement: The Affordable Care Act’s foundation of coverage: essential health benefits are essential [2019]
  • The development and implementation of checklists in obstetrics [2017]
  • Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) Special Report: Current approaches to measuring quality of care in obstetrics [2016]

Vietnam

• Global Health Action
  • Multiple vulnerabilities and maternal healthcare in Vietnam: findings from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, 2000, 2006, and 2011 [2016]

• International Journal of Health Policy and Management
  • Shaping the Health Policy Agenda: The Case of Safe Motherhood Policy in Vietnam [2015]

• Journal of Rural Medicine : JRM
  • Trends in inequalities in utilization of reproductive health services from 2000 to 2011 in Vietnam [2015]

WHO

• World Health Organization
  • Transitioning to midwifery models of care: global position paper [2024]
  • List of key WHO-recommended maternal and newborn health commodities [2024]
  • Integrated quality of hospital care assessment and improvement tool for maternal and neonatal health [2024]
  • Engaging the private sector in delivering quality maternal, newborn and child health services [2024]
  • Global progress report on WASH in health care facilities: Fundamentals first [2021]
  • Strengthening quality midwifery education for Universal Health Coverage 2030: Framework for action [2019]
  • Strengthening quality midwifery education: WHO meeting report, July 25-26, 2016: in support of Global strategy for women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health 2016–30, Global strategy for human resources for health: workforce 2030 [2017]
  • Standards for improving quality of maternal and newborn care in health facilities [2016]
  • Midwives voices, midwives realities. Findings from a global consultation on providing quality midwifery care [2016]
  • The World Health Organization Multicountry Survey on Maternal and Newborn Health project at a glance: the power of collaboration [2014]
  • WHO Recommendations: Optimizing Health Worker Roles to Improve Access to Key Maternal and Newborn Health Interventions Through Task Shifting [2012]
  • The World Health Organization multicountry survey on maternal and newborn health: study protocol [2011]
  • Strengthening midwifery toolkit [2011]
  • Accelerated implementation of maternal and newborn continuum of care as part of improving reproductive health: mapping of in-country activities: joint country support [2010]
  • Monitoring emergency obstetric care : a handbook [2009]
  • Standards for Maternal and Neonatal care [2007]
  • The effect of maternal–newborn ill-health on households: economic vulnerability and social implications [2006]
  • The costs of maternal–newborn illness and mortality [2006]
  • Impact on economic growth of investing in maternal–newborn health [2006]

WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region

• WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region
  • Summary report on the regional training workshop on promoting maternal and newborn health quality of care, Rabat, Morocco 5–7 December 2016 [2017]

WHO South-East Asia Region

• WHO South-East Asia Region
  • Regional Strategic Directions for strengthening Midwifery in the South-East Asia Region 2020–2024 [2020]

WHO Western Pacific Region

• WHO Western Pacific Region
  • Maternal health care : policies, technical standards and services accessibility in eight countries in the Western Pacific Region [2018]

{Related topics}

• Topic
  • Obstetrics, perinatology
  • Antenatal care