Interventions to increase facility births and provision of postpartum care in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review
Loading...
Authors
Camara, Bienvenu Salim
Delamou, Alexandre
Grovogui, Fassou Mathias
Kok, Bregje Christina de
Benova, Lenka
Ayadi, Alison Marie El
Gerrets, Rene
Grietens, Koen Peeters
Delvaux, Thérèse
Issue Date
2021-01-21
Type
Article
Language
en_US
Keywords
Interventions , Postpartum Care , Scoping Review
Alternative Title
Abstract
Background:
Most maternal deaths occur during the intrapartum and peripartum periods in sub-Saharan Africa, emphasizing the importance of timely access to quality health service for childbirth and postpartum care. Increasing facility births and provision of postpartum care has been the focus of numerous interventions globally, including in sub-Saharan Africa. The objective of this scoping review is to synthetize the characteristics and effectiveness of interventions to increase facility births or provision of postpartum care in sub-Saharan Africa.
Methods:
We searched for systematic reviews, scoping reviews, qualitative studies and quantitative studies using experimental, quasi experimental, or observational designs, which reported on interventions for increasing facility birth or provision of postpartum care in sub-Saharan Africa. These studies were published in English or French. The search comprised six scientific literature databases (Pubmed, CAIRN, la Banque de Données en Santé Publique, the Cochrane Library). We also used Google Scholar and snowball or citation tracking.
Results:
Strategies identified in the literature as increasing facility births in the sub-Saharan African context include community awareness raising, health expenses reduction (transportation or user fee), non-monetary incentive programs (baby kits), or a combination of these with improvement of care quality (patient’s privacy, waiting time, training of provider), and or follow-up of pregnant women to use health facility for birth. Strategies that were found to increase provision of postpartum care include improvement of care quality, community-level identification and referrals of postpartum problems and transport voucher program.
Conclusions:
To accelerate achievements in facility birth and provision of postpartum care in sub-Saharan Africa, we recommend strategies that can be implemented sustainably or produce sustainable change. How to sustainably motivate community actors in health interventions may be particularly important in this respect. Furthermore, we recommend that more intervention studies are implemented in West and Central Africa, and focused more on postpartum.
Description
Citation
Camara, B. S., Delamou, A., Grovogui, F. M., de Kok, B. C., Benova, L., El Ayadi, A. M., Gerrets, R., Grietens, K. P., & Delvaux, T. (2021). Interventions to increase facility births and provision of postpartum care in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review. Reproductive health, 18(1), 16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12978-021-01072-4
Publisher
Reproductive Health