A Scoping Review of Interventions to Improve Maternal and Neonatal Care in Nepal
Authors: Wasti, S.P., van Teijlingen, E., Adhikari, N. and Morgan, J.
Journal: Discover Public Health
eISSN: 3005-0774
Abstract:Background Nepal has achieved significant progress in maternal health outcomes, and the country's health system prioritises life-saving interventions during pregnancy, delivery, neonatal, and postpartum care to increase the usage of maternal healthcare services. This review aimed to systematically identify and analyse the interventions deployed to improve institutional delivery, skilled birth attendance, and postnatal care for both mothers and neonates in Nepal.
Methods A scoping review of the literature was undertaken using Arksey and O’Malley's five-stage framework to map the existing evidence on interventions to improve maternal and newborn health care. Medline, CINAHL, PsycINFO and Scopus databases were searched for published studies from inception to July 2024. The review includes experimental, quasi-experimental, cohort, and analytical research investigating strategies to improve maternal and newborn health care in Nepal. The study characteristics of the included studies were retrieved using a data extraction sheet, and the results are presented in a narrative synthesis.
Results This review identified 19 studies using various interventions aimed at diverse populations. The studies identified five overarching interventions, with community and health facility-based interventions being the most significant interventions, followed by mobile health messaging, husbands’ involvement, and female community health volunteer (FCHV) mobilisation. The interventions were often a mixture of activities with a combination of interventions rather than a single intervention aiming to improve maternal and/or neonatal health services.
Conclusions The findings highlight is no single magic bullet strategy for improving maternal and neonatal health services, but more likely a mixture of integrated interventions to bring improvements. The effectiveness of several government initiatives in Nepal, such as the "Safe Delivery Incentive, Newborn Care and President Women Upliftment Program", should be investigated, and the targeted interventions should be extended to hard-to-reach communities.
Source: Manual