ArticleBMJ open2022
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on utilisation of facility-based essential maternal and child health services from March to August 2020 compared with pre-pandemic March-August 2019: a mixed-methods study in North Shewa Zone, Ethiopia.
Article in BMJ open, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- 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.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Pooled it
- Impact of COVID-19 on Maternal Health Service Uptake and Perinatal Outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Pooled it
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to and delivery of maternal and child healthcare services in low-and middle-income countries: a systematic review of the literature.Frontiers in public health · 2024Pooled it
- Essential maternal health service disruptions in Ethiopia during COVID 19 pandemic: a systematic review.BMC women's health · 2022Pooled it
- Absorbing the shock: the role of lower-level health facilities in immunization resilience in Sidama, Ethiopia during COVID-19 pandemic.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- The Landscape on Access to Maternal and Child Health Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Africa: A Scoping Review.Interdisciplinary perspectives on infectious diseases · 2026Review
- Effects of a gender-responsive maternal, newborn and child health program on health and economic outcomes during COVID-19 in Kenya: a mixed-methods study.International journal for equity in health · 2025Article
- Mental health among Hispanic college students during the COVID-19 pandemic: Concurrent and predictive effects of negative and positive COVID-19 changes.Journal of American college health : J of ACH · 2025Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on type 2 diabetes care and factors associated with care disruption in Kenya and Tanzania.Global health action · 2024Article
- COVID-19 related disruption and resilience in immunisation activities in LMICs: a rapid review.BMJ open · 2024Review
- Article
- Identifying characteristics that enable resilient immunisation programmes: a scoping review.BMJ open · 2024Article
- Associations between Difficulty in Accessing Maternal and Child Health Services and Stress Responses among Mothers Raising Young Children during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan.Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) · 2024Article
- Factors affecting postnatal care service utilization in Pyuthan district: A mixed method study.PloS one · 2024Article
- The COVID-19 pandemic and disruptions to maternal and child health services in public primary care Malaysia: a retrospective time-series analysis.BMJ global health · 2023Article
- Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mother and child health in Sub-Saharan Africa - a review.Pediatric research · 2023Review
- Availability of Maternal, Newborn care and Child Health Services at Primary Health Care Unit during COVID-19 Outbreak in Ethiopia.Ethiopian journal of health sciences · 2023Article
- Associations between the stringency of COVID-19 containment policies and health service disruptions in 10 countries.BMC health services research · 2023Article
- Setting a research agenda to advance maternal, newborn, and child health in Ethiopia: An adapted CHNRI prioritization exercise.Journal of global health · 2023Article
- An integrative literature review on the impact of COVID-19 on maternal and child health in Africa.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionHealth systems are often weakened by public health emergencies that make it harder to access health services. We aimed to assess maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) service utilisation during the first 6 months of the COVID-19 pandemic compared with prior to the pandemic.
methodsWe conducted a mixed study design in eight health facilities that are part of the Birhan field site in Amhara, Ethiopia and compared the trend of service utilisation in the first 6 months of COVID-19 with the corresponding time and data points of the preceding year.
resultNew family planning visits (43.2 to 28.5/month, p=0.014) and sick under 5 child visits (225.0 to 139.8/month, p=0.007) declined over the first 6 months of the pandemic compared with the same period in the preceding year. Antenatal (208.9 to 181.7/month, p=0.433) and postnatal care (26.6 to 19.8/month, p=0.155) visits, facility delivery rates (90.7 to 84.2/month, p=0.776), and family planning visits (313.3 to 273.4/month, p=0.415) declined, although this did not reach statistical significance. Routine immunisation visits (37.0 to 36.8/month, p=0.982) for children were maintained. Interviews with healthcare providers and clients highlighted several barriers to service utilisation during COVID-19, including fear of disease transmission, economic hardship, and transport service disruptions and restrictions. Enablers of service utilisation included communities' decreased fear of COVID-19 and awareness-raising activities.
conclusionWe observed a decline in essential MNCH services particularly in sick children and new family planning visits. To improve the resiliency of fragile health systems, resources are needed to continuously monitor service utilisation and clients' evolving concerns during public health emergencies.
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