Each year, an estimated 289,000 mothers and 2.9 million newborns die worldwide from complications related to pregnancy, childbirth, or the postnatal period. 99% of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Research evidence is crucial in uncovering reasons why health systems have failed in addressing the needs of mothers and newborns in LMICs. One such example is a systematic review recently conducted by Dr Etienne Langlois of the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, and published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization (April 2015) that examines why post-natal services have been underutilized using data from 15 LMICs.
Findings from this systematic review identified the following key reasons why post-natal services have been underutilized: poor access, cost, lack of education related to when and why post-natal services are needed, as well as inequitable distribution of health services as a result of low socioeconomic status, poor literacy, and geographic barriers.
For information, contact Etienne Langlois (langloise@who.int)