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Maternal and child access to health and healthcare

Guest Editors:
Jennifer Harris Requejo, PhD, Global Financing Facility for Women's, Children's, and Adolescents' Health, World Bank, USA 
Lynn Kemp, PhD, Western Sydney University, Australia 


BMC Public Health called for submissions to our Collection on Maternal and child access to health and healthcare. With mothers and children making up over 2/3 of the whole population, improving their health outcomes is a global critical priority. Numerous challenges hinder effective access to healthcare services for women and children, particularly in marginalized communities. Addressing these challenges requires evidence-based research which can inform policies and interventions aimed at enhancing maternal and child access to health and healthcare.

Meet the Guest Editors

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Jennifer Harris Requejo: Global Financing Facility for Women’s, Children’s, and Adolescents’ Health, World Bank; Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA

Jennifer Requejo is currently a Senior Advisor at the Global Financing Facility for Women’s, Children’s, and Adolescents’ Health at the World Bank. Prior to joining the GFF, Jennifer was the Chief of the Health and HIV unit within the Division of Data, Analytics, Planning, and Monitoring at UNICEF Headquarters. Her portfolio involved leading the data and analytical activities of the immunization, HIV, and maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health teams and coordinating with other United Nations agencies and partners on the development of technical products.  Jennifer has expertise in policy analysis, monitoring and evaluation, measurement, and qualitative and quantitative methods.

Lynn Kemp: Western Sydney University, Australia

Distinguished Professor Lynn Kemp is Director of the Translational Research and Social Innovation group in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Western Sydney University and Ingham Institute. Lynn has developed a significant program of community-based child health research that includes world and Australian-first intervention studies such as the Maternal Early Childhood Sustained Home-visiting (MECSH) study and the subsequent right@home randomized trial of sustained nurse home visiting, and the Volunteer Family Connect study, the world’s largest trial of volunteer home visiting. She is extensively published and funded with over $20 million career research funding, five book chapters and over 100 peer reviewed publications.


About the collection

BMC Public Health is calling for submissions to our Collection on Maternal and child access to health and healthcare. 

With mothers and children making up over 2/3 of the whole population, improving their health outcomes is a global critical priority. Equal access to quality healthcare plays a pivotal role in ensuring their well-being, reducing maternal and infant mortality rates and promoting overall population health. 

Numerous challenges hinder effective access to healthcare services for women and children, particularly in marginalized communities. Addressing these challenges requires evidence-based research which can inform policies and interventions aimed at enhancing maternal and child access to health and healthcare. 

The objective of this collection is to identify barriers and propose innovative strategies to improve access to quality healthcare services for women and children in diverse settings. We welcome submissions looking at:

  • The determinants of maternal and child access to health and healthcare: investigating the social, economic, cultural and geographic factors that influence the utilization of healthcare services during pregnancy, childbirth and childhood
  • The barriers to healthcare access: identifying and analyzing the barriers and challenges faced by women and children in accessing healthcare services, including financial constraints, transportation, healthcare, infrastructure, cultural practices and gender disparities
  • Quality of maternal and child healthcare services: including antenatal care, postnatal care and  immunization programs
  • Community-based interventions: assessing the impact and effectiveness of community-based healthcare programs, outreach initiatives and innovative models of service delivery in improving access to maternal and child healthcare
  • Policy and health system strengthening: examining policy frameworks, health system strategies and governance mechanisms that can support and strengthen maternal and child healthcare access with a focus on equity, affordability and quality




Image credit: ronnachaipark / Getty Images / iStock

  1. Sub-Saharan Africa suffers from the highest maternal mortality ratio (MMR) in the world, with 542 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2017, relative to a global ratio of 211. Reducing gender-based discrimination...

    Authors: Clara Orduhan, Ruth Waitzberg, Manuela De Allegri, Bona Chitah, Jean-Paul Dossou, Charlestine Bob Elwange, Adama Faye, Sharon Fonn, Christabel Kambala, Shafiu Mohammed, Hamidou Niangaly, Chenjerai Sisimayi and Wilm Quentin
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2025 25:3550
    Content type: Research Published on:

  2. A package of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) services are administered sequentially to mother–child dyads as Continuum of Care (CoC), but often each intervention is reviewed in silo in low-middle-inc...

    Authors: Jyoti Ghosal, Anita Nanda, Pallavi Behera, Meena Som, Madhusmita Bal, Manoranjan Ranjit, Srikanta Kanungo, Shridhar Murlidharrao Kadam, Sanghamitra Pati and Ambarish Dutta
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2025 25:2727
    Content type: Research Published on:

  4. Food insecurity is a major public health challenge in many parts of the world, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. It affects the health and well-being of vulnerable populations, particularly women of reproducti...

    Authors: Komlan Kota, Roland Pongou and Marie-Hélène Chomienne
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2025 25:2040
    Content type: Research Published on:

  5. High-quality fertility care should be effective and safe but also patient-centered. We analyzed the difference in the patient-centered medical experiences between public and private fertility care in China, ai...

    Authors: Jiangying Liang, Qiuling Jie, Wen Xu, Juan Li, Mianai Fu, Ping Liu, Yan Chen, Xiaoman Wang, Xianmei Li, Zhaoping Li, Juan Li, Mingkun Wang, Jinyu Kang, Fei Sun, Qi Li and Yanlin Ma
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2025 25:1874
    Content type: Research Published on:

  6. Canada has one of the highest rates of Type 1 diabetes in children. Management of their diabetes and prevention of poor health outcomes often falls on mothers who are often the primary caregiver. The caregivin...

    Authors: Tara Azimi, Lisa A. Wozniak, Richard T. Oster, Jeff Johnson and Stephanie Montesanti
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2025 25:1655
    Content type: Research Published on:

  7. Recurrent early pregnancy loss [rEPL] is a traumatic experience, marked by feelings such as grief and depression, and often anxiety. Despite this, the psychological consequences of rEPL are often overlooked, p...

    Authors: Flora E. Kent-Nye, Kayleigh S. Sheen, Karen Burgess, Munira Oza, Laura A. Magee, Davor Jurković and Sergio A. Silverio
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2025 25:367
    Content type: Research Published on:

  8. Women in the postpartum period are at greater risk of intimate partner violence (IPV), which may cause physical, sexual, or psychological harm and have a long-lasting negative impact on mother and child. Seeki...

    Authors: Laura M. Hausmann, Lara Seefeld, Amera Mojahed, Judith T. Mack, Susan Garthus-Niegel and Julia Schellong
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2025 25:2
    Content type: Research Published on:

  9. Community acceptance of Traditional birth attendants (TBAs) as professional birth attendant was reported as one of the bottlenecks that has been hindering facility childbirth care service use. Hence, the World...

    Authors: Solomon Abrha Damtew, Fitsum Tariku Fantaye, Metages Yohannes and Kelemua Menegesha Sene
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2024 24:3567
    Content type: Research Published on:

  10. PROMISE-EPI trial evaluated a combination of interventions to prevent HIV transmission during breastfeeding. It showed a reduced postnatal transmission compared to the standard of care. The intervention combin...

    Authors: Anaïs Mennecier, Beauty Matoka, Maria Melany Wilfred-Tonga, Catherine Chunda-Liyoka, Mwiya Mwiya, Nicolas Nagot, Jean-Pierre Molès, Philippe Van de Perre, Chipepo Kankasa and Rachel King
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2024 24:3356
    Content type: Research Published on:

  11. Childcare needs are an understudied social determinant of health. The effect of childcare needs on access to healthcare must be understood to inform health system interventions and policy reform. This study so...

    Authors: Priyanka Gaur, Anisha P. Ganguly, Madyson Kuo, Robert Martin, Kristin S. Alvarez, Kavita P. Bhavan and Kimberly A. Kho
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2024 24:1608
    Content type: Research Published on:

    The Publisher Correction to this article has been published in BMC Public Health 2024 24:1794

  12. The utilisation of Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (RMNCH) services remains lower among the Scheduled Tribes (ST) in India than among the rest of the country’s population. The tribal populatio...

    Authors: Rekha S., Varshini Neethi Mohan, Girija Vaidyanathan, Umakant Dash and V. R. Muraleedharan
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2024 24:1605
    Content type: Research Published on:

  13. Birthing people of color experience disproportionately higher rates of infant and maternal mortality during pregnancy and birth compared to their white counterparts. The utilization of doula support services m...

    Authors: Emily Kang, Nat’e Stowe, Kelsey Burton and Tiarney D. Ritchwood
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2024 24:1588
    Content type: Research Published on:

  14. Access to family planning services among young people is crucial for reproductive health. This study explores the access and associated factors among young people in Lira City, Northern Uganda.

    Authors: Eustes Kigongo, Raymond Tumwesigye, Maxson Kenneth Anyolitho, Marvin Musinguzi, Gad Kwizera, Everlyne Achan, Caroline Kambugu Nabasirye, Samson Udho, Amir Kabunga and Bernard Omech
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2024 24:1146
    Content type: Research Published on:

  15. Access to childcare is an understudied social determinant of health (SDOH). Our health system established a childcare facility for patients to address childcare barriers to healthcare. Recognizing that social ...

    Authors: Anisha P. Ganguly, Kristin S. Alvarez, Sheryl R. Mathew, Virali Soni, Suman Vadlamani, Bijal A. Balasubramanian and Kavita P. Bhavan
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2024 24:639
    Content type: Research Published on:

  16. While mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of hepatitis B virus (HBV) remains a significant challenge in China, research investigating the effectiveness of the September 2017 pilot program to eliminate MTCT of ...

    Authors: Ya-Li Luo, Shuang Gao, Quan-Fu Zhang, Xian Liu, Ding-Yan Lv, Jia-Hong Chen and Wei Wang
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2024 24:58
    Content type: Research Published on:

  17. The uptake of Intermittent Preventive Treatment of malaria in pregnancy using Sulfadoxine-Pyrimethamine (IPTp-SP) remains unacceptably low, with more than two-thirds of pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa sti...

    Authors: Kadiatou Koita, Joel D. Bognini, Efundem Agboraw, Mahamadou Dembélé, Seydou Yabré, Biébo Bihoun, Oumou Coulibaly, Hamidou Niangaly, Jean-Batiste N’Takpé, Maia Lesosky, Dario Scaramuzzi, Eve Worrall, Jenny Hill, Valérie Briand, Halidou Tinto and Kassoum Kayentao
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2024 24:43
    Content type: Study Protocol Published on:

  18. Despite the growing importance given to ensuring high-quality childbirth, perinatal good practices have been rapidly disrupted by SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. This study aimed at describing the childbirth care provide...

    Authors: Edoardo Corsi Decenti, Michele Antonio Salvatore, Donatella Mandolini, Letizia Sampaolo, Paola D’Aloja and Serena Donati
    Citation: BMC Public Health 2023 23:2562
    Content type: Research Published on:

Submission Guidelines

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This Collection welcomes submission of original Research Articles. Should you wish to submit a different article type, please read our submission guidelines to confirm that type is accepted by the journal. Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system, Snapp. During the submission process you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection, please select "Maternal and child access to health and healthcare" from the dropdown menu.

Articles will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process and are subject to all of the journal’s standard policies. Articles will be added to the Collection as they are published.

The Editors have no competing interests with the submissions which they handle through the peer review process. The peer review of any submissions for which the Editors have competing interests is handled by another Editorial Board Member who has no competing interests.