Table 4.

Summary of evidence on WDA’s effective functioning on maternal health services

Author, year	Target population	Study design	Outcome	Result
Zepre and Kaba,32 2017	Pregnant women	Cross-sectional	Birth preparedness and complication readiness	Those who got information from their one-to-five connections are more likely to prepare for birth and its complications (OR 2.52, 95% CI 1.17 to 5.39)
Jackson and Hailemariam,33 2016	Pregnant women	Qualitative	Linking pregnant women with health facilities for delivery	HEWs can effectively refer more women to give birth in health facilities when the WDA is well functioning
Jackson et al,34 2017	Pregnant women	Qualitative	Delays in maternal health service use	Initiatives to reduce delays can improve access to maternal health services, especially when HEWs are supported by WDTs
Jackson R et al,35 2016	Mothers and HEWs	Qualitative	Maternal health service utilisation and acceptance	With the support of WDTs, HEWs have increased the rate of skilled birth attendance
Kok et al,36 2015	Mothers and HEWs	Qualitative	Relationship of community with HEWs and the healthcare sector	WDTs supported HEWs in liaising with community members

HEW, health extension worker; WDA, women’s development army; WDT, women’s development team.