ArticleBMC women's health2024
Key barriers to the provision and utilization of maternal health services in low-and lower-middle-income countries; a scoping review.
Article in BMC women's health, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 52 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
52 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Psychological risk factors for lumbopelvic pain before, during, and after pregnancy: a systematic review.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2026Pooled it
- Primary cesarean section in Sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis using the Robson Ten-Group Classification System.PloS one · 2026Pooled it
- Postpartum Women's Experiences of Postnatal Care in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Qualitative Evidence Synthesis.Birth (Berkeley, Calif.) · 2025Pooled it
- 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
- Understanding care-seeking of pregnant women from underserved groups: a systematic review and meta-ethnography.Frontiers in public health · 2025Pooled it
- Interventions to Prevent and Manage Infections in Pregnancy.Neonatology · 2025Pooled it
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- Maternal, newborn, and child health continuum of care: completion and associated factors in Xiengkhuang and Huaphanh, Lao PDR.Tropical medicine and health · 2026Article
- Barriers in managing maternal schistosomiasis: a qualitative study of healthcare providers in Tanzania.International health · 2026Article
- Socioeconomic and Migration-Related Determinants of Newborn Metabolic Screening Uptake: A Case-Control Study in Urban Iran.Journal of immigrant and minority health · 2026Article
- Caregiver burden experienced by mothers of infants who are HIV exposed uninfected compared to infants HIV unexposed: A prospective cohort study in Worcester, South Africa.Journal of tropical pediatrics · 2026Article
- The FemTech revolution: Unlocking the potential of new technology for optimizing pregnancy outcomes in low- and middle-income countries and remote areas.International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2026Article
- Factors associated with utilisation of antenatal care visit services in Nepal: evidence from Demographic and Health Survey 2016-2022.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Perceived barriers to maternal healthcare utilization: insights from skilled birth attendants in six high-burden states of northern Nigeria.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Knowledge, attitude, and practice of manual vacuum aspiration in managing incomplete abortion at lower-level health facilities of Northern Uganda.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- i-MoMCARE: AI-enabled mobile app for maternal and child health care in Cambodia - a pilot implementation and evaluation study.BMJ health & care informatics · 2026Article
- Health-seeking in fragile and conflict-affected settings: how armed violent conflict shapes maternal and child health-seeking behaviours.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Gender dynamics affecting women's uptake of maternal health service in agrarian and pastoral settings in Ethiopia: a community-based cross-sectional study.Reproductive health · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundThe preservation and promotion of maternal health (MH) emerge as vital global health objectives. Despite the considerable emphasis on MH, there are still serious challenges to equitable access to MH services in many countries. This review aimed to determine key barriers to the provision and utilization of MH services in low- and lower-middle-income countries (LLMICs).
methodsIn this scoping review, we comprehensively searched four online databases from January 2000 to September 2022. In this study, the approach proposed by Arksey and O'Malley was used to perform the review. Consequently, 117 studies were selected for final analysis. To determine eligibility, three criteria of scoping reviews (population, concept, and context) were assessed alongside the fulfillment of the STROBE and CASP checklist criteria. To synthesize and analyze the extracted data we used the qualitative content analysis method.
resultsThe main challenges in the utilization of MH services in LLMICs are explained under four main themes including, knowledge barriers, barriers related to beliefs, attitudes and preferences, access barriers, and barriers related to family structure and power. Furthermore, the main barriers to the provision of MH services in these countries have been categorized into three main themes including, resource, equipment, and capital constraints, human resource barriers, and process defects in the provision of services.
conclusionsThe evidence from this study suggests that many of the barriers to the provision and utilization of MH services in LLMICs are interrelated. Therefore, in the first step, it is necessary to prioritize these factors by determining their relative importance according to the specific conditions of each country. Consequently, comprehensive policies should be developed using system modeling approaches.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.