Assess the effectiveness of community-based intervention packages in reducing maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality | Training of outreach workers, e.g., community/village health workers in maternal care during pregnancy, delivery and in the postpartum period; and routine new-born care | TBAs were trained for enhanced complication referrals, Improved accessibility to healthcare services Organized village women’s groups and held monthly meetings to address obstetric and perinatal problems. | 25 studies conducted in India (5 studies); Bangladesh (6 studies), Pakistan (3), Gambia (2 studies), Nepal (3 studies), Indonesia (1 study), Burkina Faso (1) study, Gambia (2 studies) and Bolivia (2 studies) clustered randomized controlled trials-12, quasi randomized-9, Pre–post studies with no control arm-4 | Women of reproductive age group, particularly pregnant women at any period of gestation | GRADE: Not assessed RoB tool: An adaptation of the Quality assessment tool |
Lassiet al., 2015 [40] | | | | | |
Evaluate the delivery mechanisms which have been implemented over the years in different parts of the world to improve maternal and new-born health in conflict-affected areas | Community outreach services- Community Health Workers (CHW) training, labour room services provision for an internally displaced population Programme activities included: Raising community awareness, making the health facilities operational, transferring skills to the district health team, changing the health-related behaviour of the population Facility-based services: Through a healthcare centre, community sensitization to HIV, training of healthcare workers, voluntary counselling and HIV testing | Community-based services: Training CHWs as part of the Basic Package of Health Services. Community-based services: CHWs, TBAs and maternal health workers were trained for eight months and allowed to work in the community for two years | 3 studies conducted in Myanmar (1 study) Democratic Republic of the Congo (1 study), and Tanzania (1 study) Case Study-1 Pre-post Surveys-1 and Not clear study design-1 | Community health worker Married women of reproductive age (15–45 years) | GRADE: Not assessed RoB tool: The Cochrane handbook for systematic reviews |
Geremewet al., 2020 [39] | | | | | |
Assess pooled evidence on the effect of antenatal care service utilization on postnatal care service utilization. | ANC service utilization | | 14 studies were conducted in Rwanda (2 studies), Ethiopia (7 studies), Kenya (2 studies), South Sudan (1 study), Tanzania (1 study) and Zambia (1 study) Respective follow-up-1 and Cross-sectional-13 | Women who use ANC and PNC | GRADE: Not assessed RoB tool: The Joana Briggs Institute (JBI) critical appraisal tools |
Geldsetzeret al., 2016 [36] | | | | | |
Assess the evidence for innervations that aim to improve retention within the ART program, transitioning from PMTC to the general ART program and retention in the general ART program | Use of text messaging and/or phone calls | Two-way text messaging | 7 studies conducted in Kenya (4 studies), Uganda (1 study), and Malawi (2 studies) Individually randomized studies-3, CRT-1, Cohort study-2 and Pre/post cohort study-1 | Pregnant /postpartum women with HIV | GRADE: Assessed using the GRADE criteria RoB tool: Not available |
Brittainet al., 2021 [41] | | | | | |
Collate the available evidence on strategies to improve retention in antenatal and/or postpartum care among adolescents and young WLHIV and also a review of strategies to increase attendance at antenatal care (ANC) and/or facility delivery among pregnant adolescents, regardless of HIV status, to identify approaches that could be adapted for adolescents and young WLHIV. | Integrated care during the postpartum period a lay counsellor-led combination intervention Mobile health technologies enhanced support Active follow-up and tracing Home visits Continuity of care with the same provider | Community and health facility | 36 studies which took place in DRC (1 study), Malawi (4 studies), Kenya 6 studies), Nigeria (3 studies), Tanzania (5 studies), Zambia (2 studies), South Africa (8 studies), Mozambique (1 study), Uganda (3 studies), Lesotho (1 study), Zimbabwe (3 studies), India (1 study), and Egypt (1 study) RCT-12, Before-after cohort study-2, arm cluster RC-13, Retrospective cohort-5, Cohort-2, and Pre-post study-2 | Adolescent and young WLHIV | GRADE: Not assessed RoB tool: Not available |
Wagnewet al., 2018 [30] | | | | | |
Determine the effectiveness of short message services (SMS) on Focused Antenatal Care (FANC) visits and the attendance of skilled birth professionals in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) | Interventions that use SMS or phone calls as reminders for a scheduled health appointment(s) | Texting or calling the participants as a reminder to attend the clinic | 7 studies conducted in Thailand (1 study), Zanzibar (2 studies), Kenya (1 study), South Africa (1 study), Ethiopia (1 study) and India (1 study) RCT-7 | Pregnant women | GRADE: Assessed using GRADE criteria RoB tool: The Cochrane Collaboration’s Tool |
Vrazoet al., 2018 [38] | | | | | |
Summarise the interventions that demonstrate statistically significant improvements in service uptake and retention of HIV-positive pregnant and breastfeeding women and their infants along the PMTCT cascade. | Increase access to antenatal care (ANC) and ART services Using lay cadres quality improvement mHealth counselling | | 12 studies conducted in South Africa (3 studies), Malawi (2 studies), Kenya (3 studies), DRC (1 study), Zambia (1 study), and Cote d’Ivoire (1 study) Cluster RCT-2, Prospective cohort-5, RCT-1, Retrospective cohort-1 and Pre–post-comparison-2 | HIV-positive pregnant women and HIV-exposed infants | GRADE: Not assessed RoB tool: An eight-item assessment tool |
Takahet al., 2017 [33] | | | | | |
Identify the approaches that are used in improving male partner involvement in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV and their impact on the uptake of maternal antiretroviral therapy (ART) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). | Invitation letters to male partners to be involved in PMTCT. Psychological counselling conducted by trained personnel, e.g., women to disclose their HIV status to their male partners Verbal encouragement through counselling to bring partners to the antenatal clinic | Invitation letters to male partners to be involved in PMTCT. | 17 studies conducted in South Africa (2 studies), Tanzania (2 studies), Nigeria (1 study), Kenya (3 studies), Mozambique (1 study), Uganda (2 studies), Rwanda (2 studies), Zambia (1 study) and Malawi (3 studies) RCT-4, Cohort-11, Serial cross-sectional-1 | HIV-positive pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers with their male partners | GRADE: not assessed RoB Tool: Jadad Scale and Newcastle-Ottawa Scale |
Tillet al., 2015 [29] | | | | | |
Determine whether incentives are an effective tool to increase the utilization of timely prenatal care among women. | Household-level package communities: Eligible households receive vouchers for each pregnant woman, a child under age 3 or between ages 6–12 enrolled in school. Service-level package communities received quality improvement teams to strengthen health centres and community-based nutrition programs. Dual-package communities received both household-level and service-level interventions | Household/ community level | Four studies conducted in USA (3 studies), Mexico (1 study) and Honduras (1 study) Cluster RCT-2 and RCT-3 | Pregnant women | GRADE: Not assessed RoB Tool: Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews |
Tibingana-Ahimbisibweet al., 2016 [37] | | | | |
Systematically review the effect of adolescent-specific interventions on reducing Preterm birth (PTB), low birth weight (LBW), perinatal death and increasing prenatal care attendance. | Hospital-based comprehensive interdisciplinary, and adolescent-specific prenatal care programme | | 22 studies conducted in USA (15 studies), UK (2 studies), Canada (3 studies), Australia (1 study) and Egypt (1 study) RCT-3, Prospective cohort-4, Retrospective cohort − 9, Case control-5 and natural experiment − 1 | Pregnant adolescents (10–19 years) | GRADE: Not assessed RoB tool: A validated tool from the Effective Public Health Practice Project |
Suandiet al., 2021 [34] | | | | | |
Investigate whether involving male partners in antenatal care improves healthcare utilisation. | Male involvement in maternal and child health (MCH) that required men to play more responsible roles in MCH to ensure women’s and children’s well-being. | Husband’s pregnancy knowledge and wife’s participation in household decision making The male partner was invited to an interactive group discussion; couple’s counselling during pregnancy and postnatal unhyphenated throughout couple’s counselling session | 17 Studies conducted in Nepal (3 studies), India (2 studies), Indonesia (1 study), Myanmar (1 study), Bangladesh (1 study), Kenya (1 study), Malawi (1 study), Zambia (1 study), South Africa (1 study), Burkina Faso (1 study), Uganda (1 study) and Ethiopia (3 studies) RCT-5, non-randomised controlled trial-1, cluster RCT-1, Cohort-3 and cross-sectional surveys-6 | Women of reproductive age, although some were recruited from antenatal clinics, while others participated in surveys after pregnancy and delivery. | GRADE: not assessed RoB Tool: Downs and Black Checklist |
Sondaalet al., 2016 [31] | | | | | |
Assess the effect of mobile Health interventions that support pregnant women during the antenatal, birth and postnatal period in LMIC. | Unidirectional text (and voice) messaging Direct two-way communication Both unidirectional and direct two-way communication Multidirectional text messaging Unidirectional telephone counselling | | 27 studies implemented in multiple countries: Afghanistan (1 study), Argentina (1 study), Bangladesh (2), Burkina Faso (1 study), China (1 study), Ghana (1 study), India (2 studies), Kenya (1 study), Lebanon (1 study), Malawi (1 study), Malaysia (1 study), Nigeria (1 study), Puerto Rico (1 study), Serbia (1 study), Sierra Leone (1 study), South Africa (4 studies), Tanzania (2 studies) and Thailand (3 studies), Iran (1 study) Intervention studies-12 and descriptions studies-15 | Pregnant women | GRADE: Not assessed an adaptation to the Cochrane Collaboration’s tool for assessing risk of bias |
Sewardet al., 2017 [28] | | | | | |
Examine the effect of women's groups on key antenatal, delivery, and postnatal behaviours to understand pathways to mortality reduction. | Women’s groups meeting regularly with the help of the female facilitator | | 7 studies implemented in Bangladesh (2 studies), Malawi (1 study), Nepal (1 study) and India (3 studies) RCTs-7 | Women aged 15–49 years | GRADE: Not assessed RoB tool: Not available |
Sarongaet al., 2019 [35] | | | | | |
Evaluate the effectiveness of mHealth interventions on improving dietary/nutrients intake of pregnant women in LMIC | Text messaging voice messages delivered via mobile phone combination of mobile phone calls and text messaging | Sending information via text or voice message, or phone call. | 4 studies were implemented: India (2 studies), Indonesia (1 study) and Kenya (1 study) RCT-3 and Pre-post study-1 | Pregnant women | GRADE: Not assessed RoB Tool: Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Tool |