Table 2.

First step: definitions of vulnerability and key concepts

N	Article and Year	Definition	Key concept
I	Scupholme et al.18 1992	Populations that are likely to experience poorer health outcomes due to their age, race/ethnicity, financial status, geographic location, and immigrant/migrant status.	Poorer outcomes than average
II	National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)9 2010	Women considered to be vulnerable due to social and psychological difficulties that pose a potential risk to the foetus, infant and child.	Social and psychological difficulties
III	Menke et al.19 2014	Women at risk of poor maternal and neonatal outcomes resulting from social disadvantages.	Poor maternal and neonatal outcome
IV	Glasgow Child Protection Committee20 2008	Women with significant obstetric risks or women with complex social needs.	Obstetric risks; Complex social needs
V	De Groot et al.21 2016	One or more complications (risk factors to foetal health: psychopathology, psychosocial problems and substance abuse) with lack of individual and/or social resources.	Risk factors for foetal health; Lack of individual and/or social resources
VI	Briscoe et al.22 2016	Women who experience ‘threat’ from a physical, psychological or social perspective, where ‘barriers’ and ‘coping strategies’ conditions cause a status of vulnerability.	Threat
VII	MacMullen et al.23 1992	Stress variables contributing to antenatal vulnerability. […] Hospitalisation is often a stressful experience. […] Women are vulnerable due to emotional and physical challenges that are often related to antenatal hospitalisation.	Emotional and physical challenges
VIII	MacMullen et al.23 1992	The vulnerability emerges due to environmental and psychosocial factors.	Environmental and psychosocial factors