SynthesisSystematic reviews2019
Trends in maternal and neonatal mortality in South Africa: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Systematic reviews, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
What it found
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed.
- Social stigma, genetic services, and South Africa: is testing taboo?Journal of community genetics · 2026Review
- Experiences of Health Professionals Regarding Existing Guidelines Used to Manage Obstetric Emergencies in a Rural Area of South Africa: A Qualitative Explorative Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- Assessing the effectiveness of decentralised antenatal ultrasound in a primary health care clinic compared with a hospital-based service in rural South Africa: an interrupted time series analysis.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- Association between self-reported gender-based discrimination and maternal mortality rates: results of an ecological multi-level analysis across nine countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Impact of health facility delivery and antenatal care on neonatal mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa: a propensity score matching analysis.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- The prehospital paediatric emergency care burden managed by a public ambulance service in the Western Cape, South Africa.BMC emergency medicine · 2024Article
- Predicting maternal risk level using machine learning models.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2024Article
- Evaluation of ImpENSA technology-enabled behaviour change module delivered to healthcare professionals in South Africa to improve micronutrient nutrition during the first 1000 days.Maternal & child nutrition · 2024Article
- Incidence of post-partum complications and referrals of mothers and neonates to hospitals from a Midwife Obstetric Unit.African health sciences · 2024Article
- "If you work alone on this project, you can't reach your target": unpacking the leader's role in well-performing teams in a maternal and neonatal quality improvement programme in South Africa, before and during COVID-19.BMC health services research · 2023Article
- Multidrug-Resistant Bacterial Infections Among Very Low Birthweight Infants With Late-Onset Sepsis in Johannesburg, South Africa.Open forum infectious diseases · 2023Article
- From Pre-Implementation to Institutionalization: Lessons From Sustaining a Perinatal Audit Program in South Africa.Global health, science and practice · 2023Article
- Reflections on Digital Maternal and Child Health Support for Mothers and Community Health Workers in Rural Areas of Limpopo Province, South Africa.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Great saves or near misses? Severe maternal outcome in Metro East, South Africa: A region-wide population-based case-control study.International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2022Article
- Risk profile of postnatal women and their babies attending a rural district hospital in South Africa.Frontiers in global women's health · 2022Article
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- Combining the theory of change and realist evaluation approaches to elicit an initial program theory of the MomConnect program in South Africa.BMC medical research methodology · 2020Article
- Migration and first-year maternal mortality among HIV-positive postpartum women: A population-based longitudinal study in rural South Africa.PLoS medicine · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMeasuring and monitoring progress towards Millennium Development Goals (MDG) 4 and 5 required valid and reliable estimates of maternal and child mortality. In South Africa, there are conflicting reports on the estimates of maternal and neonatal mortality, derived from both direct and indirect estimation techniques. This study aimed to systematically review the estimates made of maternal and neonatal mortality in the period from 1990 to 2015 in South Africa and determine trends over this period.
methodsNationally-representative studies reporting on maternal and neonatal mortality in South Africa were included for synthesis. Literature search for eligible studies was conducted in five electronic databases: Medline, Africa-Wide Information, Scopus, Web of Science and CINAHL. Searches were restricted to articles written in English and presenting data covering the period between 1990 and 2015. Reference lists of retrieved articles were screened for additional publications, and grey literature was searched for relevant documents for the review. Three independent reviewers were involved in study selection, data extractions and achieving consensus.
resultsIn total, 969 studies were retrieved and 670 screened for eligibility yielding 25 studies reporting data on maternal mortality and 14 studies on neonatal mortality. Most of the studies had a low risk of bias. Estimates from the institutional reporting differed from the international metrics with wide uncertainty/confidence intervals. Moreover, modelled estimates were widely divergent from estimates obtained through empirical methods. In the last two decades, both maternal and neonatal mortality appear to have increased up to 2009, followed by a decrease, more pronounced in the care of maternal mortality.
conclusionEstimates from both global metrics and institutional reporting, although widely divergent, indicate South Africa has not achieved MDG 4a and 5a goals but made a significant progress in reducing maternal and neonatal mortality. To obtain more accurate estimates, there is a need for applying additional estimation techniques which utilise available multiple data sources to correct for underreporting of these outcomes, perhaps the capture-recapture method. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42016042769.
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