RoadMApp: a feasibility study for a smart travel application to improve maternal health delivery in a low resource setting in Zimbabwe.

Background: Travel time and healthcare financing are critical determinants of the provision of quality maternal health care in low resource settings. Despite the availability of pregnancy-related mHealth and smart travel applications, there is a lack of evidence on their usage to travel to health facilities for routine antenatal care and emergencies. There is a shortage of information about the feasibility of using a custom-made mobile technology that integrates smart travel and mHealth.

Interactions between the Physical and Social Environments with Adverse Pregnancy Events Related to Placental Disorders-A Scoping Review.

Background: Due to different social and physical environments across Africa, understanding how these environments differ in interacting with placental disorders will play an important role in developing effective interventions.

Methods: A scoping review was conducted, to identify current knowledge on interactions between the physical and social environment and the incidence of placental disease in Africa.

Results: Heavy metals were said to be harmful when environmental concentrations are beyond critical limits.

Is the closest health facility the one used in pregnancy care-seeking? A cross-sectional comparative analysis of self-reported and modelled geographical access to maternal care in Mozambique, India and Pakistan.

Background: Travel time to care is known to influence uptake of health services. Generally, pregnant women who take longer to transit to health facilities are the least likely to deliver in facilities. It is not clear if modelled access predicts fairly the vulnerability in women seeking maternal care across different spatial settings.

How accurate are modelled birth and pregnancy estimates? Comparison of four models using high resolution maternal health census data in southern Mozambique.

Background: Existence of inequalities in quality and access to healthcare services at subnational levels has been identified despite a decline in maternal and perinatal mortality rates at national levels, leading to the need to investigate such conditions using geographical analysis. The need to assess the accuracy of global demographic distribution datasets at all subnational levels arises from the current emphasis on subnational monitoring of maternal and perinatal health progress, by the new targets stated in the Sustainable Development Goals.

Methods: The analysis involved comparison of four models generated using Worldpop methods, incorporating region-specific input data, as measured through the Community Level Intervention for Pre-eclampsia (CLIP) project.