ArticlePLOS global public health2024
Cyclone Freddy and its impact on maternal health service utilisation: Cross-sectional analysis of data from a national maternal surveillance platform in Malawi.
Article in PLOS global public health, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Group antenatal care positively transforms the care experience: Results of an effectiveness trial in Malawi.PloS one · 2025Trial
- Exploratory analysis of the correlation between precipitation and storms and malaria cases from national surveillance in Mozambique.Malaria journal · 2026Article
- Correction: Cyclone Freddy and its impact on maternal health service utilisation: Cross-sectional analysis of data from a national maternal surveillance platform in Malawi.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Living through Cyclone Freddy: "Gendered Health Impacts and Coping Responses in Malawi".PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Rising to the challenge: lessons learnt from the Global Women's Research Society (GLOW) conference for women's and newborn health in the context of global crises.Sexual and reproductive health matters · 2025Article
- The impact of precipitation on ANC service utilisation and healthcare access in Malawi.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Health care needs survey to improve preparedness of community outreach clinics after severe flooding in Mulanje district, Malawi.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- The impact of climate change on maternal and child health outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa: A five-year (2020-2024) scoping review.The journal of climate change and healthReview
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
22 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Climate change poses a significant threat to women's health in sub-Saharan Africa, yet the impact of climate change on maternal health is rarely reported in the region. Using an existing Maternal Surveillance Platform (MATSurvey), we estimated the immediate impact of Cyclone Freddy on maternal health care service indicators in Malawi. We analysed facility-level data for pregnant women up to 42 weeks post-partum using the national MATSurvey database. We compared incidences of service utilisation before (1 January to 19 February 2023) and after (20 February to 30 March 2023) the cyclone using a negative binomial regression approach. Between 1 January and 30 March 2023, a total of 37,445 live births, 50,048 antenatal clinic attendances, 23,250 postnatal clinic attendances, 84 maternal deaths, and 1,166 neonatal deaths were recorded by 33 facilities in the MatSurvey database. There was an immediate reduction in service utilisation in the post-cyclone period, including the postnatal attendance per week (pre-cyclone median: 355.0 [IQR 279.0-552.0], post-cyclone median: 261.0 [IQR 154.3-305.5], RR 0.56 [95% CI 0.44-0.71, p <0.001]) and the antenatal attendance per week (pre-cyclone median: 860.0 [IQR 756.5-1060.0], post-cyclone median: 656.5 [IQR 486.5-803.3], RR 0.66 [95% CI 0.55-0.78, p <0.001]). Stratified analyses by geographical zones revealed a stronger reduction in postnatal clinic attendance in the Southwest (RR 0.50 [95% CI 0.29-0.85, p = 0.010]) and the North (RR 0.29 [95% CI 0.15-0.56, p <0.001]). Cyclone Freddy resulted in an immediate decline in utilisation of maternal health services in cyclone-affected regions in Malawi. We observe evidence of catastrophic climate events impacting on the healthcare of women and their babies. Policymakers, researchers, and health systems need to ensure that essential women's health services are maintained during these events and improve measures to support service resilience in the face of climate change.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.