. 2022 Nov 2;101(1):62–75G. doi: 10.2471/BLT.22.288703

Table 1. Studies on maternal and perinatal death surveillance and response included in the review.

Study	Country, context	Type of death	Type of review	Perceived effectiveness of process	Study design	Data collection method	No. and type of participants	Type of analysis
Abbakar, 2021²¹	Sudan, national	Maternal	Maternal death surveillance and response	Inadequate	Qualitative	In-depth interviews	54 maternal death surveillance and response staff, doctors and midwives	Thematic analysis
Abebe, et al., 2017²²	Ethiopia, national	Maternal	Maternal death surveillance and response	Successful	Qualitative	Individual and group interviews	69 frontline staff responsible for implementation of maternal death surveillance and response	Thematic content analysis
Aborigo et al., 2013²³	Ghana, community	All	Verbal autopsy	Not specified	Qualitative	In-depth interviews	36 bereaved families, field staff, physicians and local leaders	Thematic analysis
Afayo, 2018²⁴	Uganda, health facility	Maternal	Maternal death surveillance and response	Inadequate	Mixed methods	In-depth interviews	11 hospital staff and maternal death surveillance and response committee members	Thematic content analysis
Agaro et al., 2016²⁵	Uganda, district health facility	Maternal and perinatal	Maternal and perinatal death surveillance and response	Inadequate	Mixed methods	Semi-structured interviews	76: 66 health workers and 10 key informants	Thematic content analysis
Armstrong et al., 2014²⁶	United Republic of Tanzania, multiple levels	Maternal and perinatal	Maternal and perinatal death review	Inadequate	Qualitative	Document review and interviews	37: 20 hospital staff, 12 district or regional coordinators, 5 national experts	Adapted thematic analysis
Ayele et al., 2019²⁷	Ethiopia, health facility and community	Maternal and perinatal	Maternal and perinatal death surveillance and response	Inadequate	Mixed methods	In-depth interviews and focus group discussions	25 women group leaders in 3 focus groups; 11 health managers in in-depth interviews	Thematic content analysis
Bakker et al., 2011²⁸	Malawi, health facility (rural and district)	Maternal	Maternal death review	Successful	Qualitative	In-depth interviews, focus group discussions and observation	25 health workers	Not specified
Balogun & Musoke, 2014²⁹	Sudan, national	Maternal	Maternal death review	Inadequate	Qualitative	In-depth interviews and focus group discussions	Medical and health stakeholders at the national, state and facility level in 12 in-depth interviews and 18 focus group discussions	Qualitative content analysis
Bandali et al., 2019³⁰	Kenya, hospital and health centre	Maternal and perinatal	Maternal and perinatal death surveillance and response	Successful	Mixed methods	In-depth interviews and focus group discussions	5 health records information officers (interviews); maternal and perinatal death surveillance and response committee members (4 discussion groups)	Thematic analysis
Belizán et al., 2011³¹	South Africa, health facility	Perinatal	Perinatal Problem Identification Programme	Not specified	Qualitative	Focus group and workshop	48 clinicians and coordinators in the Perinatal Problem Identification Programme in 4 focus group discussions	Framework analysis using stages-of-change model
Boyi Hounsou et al., 2022⁶¹	Benin, health district	Maternal	Maternal death review	Inadequate	Mixed methods	Online group discussions	34 district medical officers in two online group discussions	Inductive thematic analysis
Biswas et al., 2014³³	Bangladesh, community	Maternal, perinatal and neonatal	Maternal and perinatal death review	Successful	Mixed methods	In-depth interviews and focus group discussions	Health workers and community volunteers in 4 focus group discussions and 4 in-depth interviews	Thematic analysis
Biswas et al., 2015³⁴	Bangladesh, health facility	Maternal, perinatal and neonatal	Maternal and perinatal death review	Successful	Qualitative	In-depth interviews, focus group discussions and document review	46 health workers implementing facility death review: 35 in in-depth interviews; 11 in focus group discussions	Thematic analysis
Biswas et al., 2015³²	Bangladesh, community	Maternal, perinatal and neonatal	Verbal autopsy	Successful	Qualitative	In-depth interviews, focus group discussions and participant observation	Health-care providers: 3 focus group discussions, 6 in-depth interviews, 6 participant observations	Thematic analysis
Biswas et al., 2016³⁵	Bangladesh, community	Maternal, perinatal and neonatal	Social autopsy	Successful	Qualitative	In-depth interviews, focus group discussions, observation and document review	Health inspectors in 9 focus group discussions; 18 health workers and 12 community members in in-depth interviews	Content and thematic analysis
Bvumbwe, 2019⁶²	Malawi, health facility	Maternal	Maternal death review	Inadequate	Qualitative	In-depth interviews and focus group discussions	42 maternal death review committee members and 32 midwives: 4 focus group discussions with midwives; 4 focus group discussions with committee members; and 3 in-depth interviews with health zone technical officers	Thematic analysis
Cahyanti et al., 2021³⁶	Indonesia, district health facility	Maternal	Maternal death review	Inadequate	Qualitative	Focus group discussions	29 district audit committee members in 4 focus group discussions	Thematic analysis
Chirwa et al., 2022⁶³	Malawi, district hospital	Maternal	Maternal death review	Inadequate	Qualitative	In-depth interviews and focus group discussions	40 nurse midwives	Thematic content analysis
Combs Thorsen et al., 2014³⁷	Malawi, urban health facility	Maternal	Maternal death review	Not specified	Mixed methods	Observation of participants of death review process	Observed data collection from bereaved family, health workers and medical records	Content analysis
Compaoré et al., 2022⁶⁴	Ghana, health facility	Maternal	Maternal death review	Inadequate	Mixed methods	In-depth interviews	Health workers and managers	Not specified
Compaoré et al., 2022⁶⁵	Liberia, county, health facility and community	Maternal and perinatal	Maternal and perinatal death surveillance and response	Inadequate	Mixed methods	In-depth interviews	County-level health personnel, health facility staff, community health workers	Not specified
Congo et al., 2017³⁸, 2022⁶⁶^,⁶⁷	Burkina Faso, regional and district hospital	Maternal	Maternal death review	Inadequate	Qualitative	In-depth interviews and document review	73 health workers in maternity, pharmacy and laboratory units, and staff in administration and management	Framework analysis
Dartey & Ganga-Limando, 2014⁷⁸	Ghana, district hospital, regional referral hospital and teaching hospital	Maternal	Maternal death review	Successful	Qualitative	In-depth interviews	20 midwives involved in maternal death reviews	Thematic content analysis
Dartey, 2016 ³⁹	Ghana, health centre, district hospital, regional referral hospital and teaching hospital	Maternal	Maternal death review	Successful	Mixed methods	In-depth interviews and focus group discussions	39 midwives involved in maternal death review: 18 in-depth interviews and 8 focus group discussions	Thematic content analysis
de Kok et al., 2017⁴⁰	Nigeria, health facility	Maternal	Maternal death review	Not specified	Qualitative	Observation of review meetings	Audit review team	Conversation and discourse analysis
Diallo et al., 2022⁶⁸	Burkina Faso, district hospital	Maternal	Maternal death review	Inadequate	Qualitative	In-depth interviews	9 midwives	Inductive thematic analysis
Dortonne et al., 2009⁴¹	Senegal and Mali, hospitals	Maternal	Maternal death review	Successful	Mixed methods	Questionnaires, checklist, interviews and document analyses	39: 23 maternal death audit committee members and 16 national-level leaders	Not specified
Dumont et al., 2009⁴²	Senegal, health facility	Maternal	Maternal death review	Successful	Mixed methods	In-depth interviews, focus group discussions, participant observation and document reviews	Health workers (maternal health) in 3 focus group discussions and 9 in-depth interviews	Thematic analysis
Gao et al., 2009⁴³	China, health facility, community	Maternal	Maternal death surveillance and response	Inadequate	Mixed methods	Interviews, field observations and review of reports and audits	18: 12 hospital leaders, 6 maternal and child health workers	Not specified
Hartsell, 2010⁴⁵	United Republic of Tanzania, all levels (national, regional, district and health facility) including private and public facilities	Maternal	Maternal death review	Not specified	Descriptive qualitative case study	In-depth interviews, observation and document reviews	15 health workers involved in data management of maternal deaths and deliveries	Not specified
Hofman et al., 2014⁴⁶	Nigeria, hospital	Maternal	Maternal death review	Not specified	Mixed methods	In-depth interviews	Members of the maternal death review committee of 11 hospitals (number not specified)	Thematic framework
Jati et al., 2019⁶⁹	Indonesia, urban health facilities and local government in Semarang	Perinatal	Perinatal death surveillance and response	Not specified	Qualitative	Focus group discussions	20 local government officials and representatives of health facilities
Jepkosgei et al., 2022⁴⁷	Kenya, hospital	Neonatal	Neonatal death review	Not specified	Exploratory qualitative study	In-depth interviews, non-participant observation of morbidity and mortality meetings	Nurses and doctors: 17 in-depth interviews and 12 morbidity and mortality meetings	Thematic content analysis
Karimi et al., 2018⁴⁸	Iran (Islamic Republic of), national, institutional (teaching universities) and health facility	Maternal	Maternal death surveillance and response	Successful	Qualitative	Review of documents and key informant interviews	15: 3 health ministry deputies, 10 medical university staff, 2 staff in obstetrics units of specialized hospitals	Thematic
Khader et al., 2020⁷⁰	Jordan, health facility	Perinatal	Perinatal death audits	Not specified	Qualitative	Focus group discussions	Paediatricians, obstetricians, nurses, midwives in 16 focus group discussions	Thematic content analysis
Kinney et al., 2020⁴⁹	Nigeria, United Republic of Tanzania, Zimbabwe, health facility	Maternal and perinatal	Maternal and perinatal death surveillance and response	Mixed	Mixed methods	Interviews and observation	41: 4 national stakeholders and 37 regional and district government health officials supporting maternal and perinatal death surveillance and response	Thematic content analysis
Kongnyuy et al., 2008⁵⁰	Malawi, health facility	Maternal	Maternal death review	Successful	Mixed methods	Focus group discussions	60: maternal and neonatal health workers implementing the facility maternal death review and quality improvement team members	SWOT analysis
Kouanda et al., 2022⁷¹	Burundi, hospital	Maternal and perinatal	Maternal and perinatal death surveillance and response	Mixed	Qualitative	In-depth interviews	26 officials of the health ministry, hospital officers, officers of health regions and districts, and obstetricians and gynaecologists and midwives	Thematic analysis
Kouanda et al., 2022⁷²	Chad, hospital (national, and district)	Maternal	Maternal death surveillance and response	Inadequate	Qualitative	In-depth interviews	25 officials at the central level, staff of technical and financial partners (WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF) and obstetricians and gynaecologists	Thematic analysis
Melberg et al., 2019⁵¹ and 2020⁷³	Ethiopia, public health facility	Maternal	Maternal and perinatal death surveillance and response	Inadequate	Qualitative	In-depth interviews and observation	46: 11 primary caregivers who had experienced perinatal deaths, 5 men who had lost their partner to a maternal death, 4 health extension workers, 7 health workers in general and referral hospitals, 13 health workers in health centres, 6 health administrators responsible for implementation of maternal and perinatal death surveillance and response	Thematic content analysis
Muffler et al., 2007⁵²	Morocco, health facility	Maternal	Maternal death review	Not specified	Mixed methods	In-depth interviews	56 implementers in the audit process	Systematic content analysis
Mukinda et al., 2021⁷⁴	South Africa, health district and subdistrict	Maternal and perinatal	Maternal and perinatal death surveillance and response	Mixed	Descriptive qualitative case study	In-depth interviews and observation	45 frontline health managers and providers involved with maternal, perinatal, neonatal and child death surveillance and response	Thematic analysis
Muvuka, 2019⁵³	Democratic Republic of the Congo, hospital and health facility	Maternal	Maternal death surveillance and response	Mixed	Qualitative	In-depth interviews, document review and observation of one maternal death review session	15 maternal death surveillance and response focal persons and members of maternal death review teams	Inductive thematic analysis
Nyamtema et al., 2010⁵⁴	United Republic of Tanzania, hospital and health facility	Maternal and perinatal	Maternal and perinatal death review	Inadequate	Mixed methods	In-depth interviews and semi-structured questionnaire	59: 29 health managers and 30 health-care providers	Qualitative content analysis
Owolabi et al., 2014⁵⁵	Malawi, health facility	Maternal	Maternal death review	Not specified	Mixed methods	In-depth interviews	8 individuals involved in implementing maternal death review	Thematic analysis
Patel et al., 2007⁵⁶	India, community	Neonatal	Community neonatal death audits	Not specified	Qualitative	In-depth interviews and focus group discussions	Community members and family of the deceased in 3 in-depth interviews and 6 focus group discussions. Also included field staff from a subsequent study	Deductive thematic analysis
Richard, 2009⁷⁵	Burkina Faso, urban district hospital	Maternal and perinatal	Maternal and perinatal death review	Not specified	Mixed methods	In-depth interviews	35 members of staff from maternity and surgical departments	Thematic analysis
Russell, 2022⁷⁶	International, international expert consultation meeting	Maternal and perinatal	Maternal and perinatal death surveillance and response	Not specified	Qualitative	In-depth interviews and group interviews	55 health workers with experience in maternal and/or newborn health in humanitarian settings, and/or programmatic or research experience in maternal and perinatal death surveillance and response	Thematic analysis
Said et al., 2021⁵⁷	United Republic of Tanzania, health facility	Maternal	Maternal death surveillance and response	Inadequate	Qualitative	In-depth interviews	60 involved in maternal death surveillance and response activities: 30 health providers in focus group discussions; 30 health managers in in-depth interviews	Inductive thematic analysis
Tayebwa et al., 2020⁵⁸	Rwanda, health facility	Maternal and perinatal	Maternal and perinatal death surveillance and response	Not specified	Mixed methods	Desk reviews,in-depth interviews and observations	23: type not stated	Not specified
Upadhyaya et al., 2012⁵⁹	India, district and peripheral health facility, community and/or village	Infant	Infant death review	Successful	Mixed methods	In-depth interviews and review of documents	38 health-care providers involved in programme activities	Content analysis
van Hamersveld et al., 2012⁴⁴	United Republic of Tanzania, district hospital	Maternal and perinatal	Maternal and perinatal death review	Inadequate	Qualitative	Participant observation and in-depth interviews	23 health workers and managers	Inductive thematic analysis
WHO 2014⁶⁰	India, all levels (national, regional, facility and community)	Maternal	Maternal death review	Successful	Mixed methods	Review of documents and reports, interviews and observations	Stakeholders at national, state and district levels	Not specified
	Indonesia, all levels (national, regional, facility and community)	Maternal	Maternal death review	Mixed	Mixed methods	Review of documents and reports, and interviews	Informants from the health ministry, district health office, hospitals and health centres	Not specified
	Sri Lanka, national	Maternal	Maternal death review	Successful	Mixed methods	Stakeholder workshop and in-depth interviews	20 former secretaries of health, former directors of the Family Health Bureau, provincial administrators, clinicians, representatives of professional colleges, national programme managers and representatives from international NGOs	Not specified
	Nepal, national	Maternal	Maternal death review	Not specified	Mixed methods	Document review, in-depth interviews and stakeholder workshop	27: 16 doctors, 4 staff nurses, 5 medical recorders and 2 programme managers from 10 hospitals	Not specified
	Myanmar, national	Maternal	Maternal death review	Not specified	Mixed methods	In-depth interviews	10–12 participants from 10 townships including township medical officer, obstetricians, township health nurse, station medical officers, focal persons of a rural health centre, and midwives	Not specified
Yameogo et al., 2022⁷⁷	Burkina Faso, health district (urban and rural)	Maternal	Maternal death surveillance and response	Inadequate	Qualitative	In-depth interviews	23: 3 technical and financial partners, 2 central level managers, 2 regional health directors, 4 district management team members, 8 health-care providers and 4 community health workers	Thematic analysis

NGO: nongovernmental organization; SWOT: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats; UNFPA: United Nations Population Fund; UNICEF: United Nations Children’s Fund; WHO: World Health Organization.