Table 2. Major themes and subthemes related to perceived barriers to the delivery of quality EmONC services in Burundi and Northern Uganda.

		Study settings
Themes	Subthemes	Burundi	Northern Uganda
Human resources-related challenges
	Acute shortage of trained personnel	X	X
	Demoralised personnel and perceived lack of recognition		X
	Perceived poor living conditions and poor remuneration for personnel	X	X
	High personnel turnover	X	X
	Increasing workload and high burn-out	X	X
	High levels of staff absenteeism in rural health centres		X
	Poor level of coordination among key EmONC personnel resulting in delays to provide emergency services		X
Systemic and institutional failures
	Poorly operational ambulance service for referrals		X
	Inefficient drug supply system		X
	Inefficient referral system		X
	Lack of essential installations, supplies and medications	X	X
	Poor allocation of limited resources	X
	Poor harmonization and coordination of EmONC training curriculum nationally	X
	Weak/ incomprehensive training curriculum	X
	Poor data collection and monitoring system	X	X
	Inequity in the distribution of EmONC facilities between urban and rural areas	X	X

EmONC: Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care.