Evidence for emergency obstetric referral interventions in developing countries is limited

In this week's PLoS Medicine, Julia Hussein from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland and colleagues assess the evidence for the effectiveness of interventions that aim to help pregnant women reach health facilities during an emergency in developing country settings.

In a systematic review of the literature they found that the level of evidence for emergency obstetric referral interventions was poor and that limitations in the design of individual studies made determining the effect of referral interventions on outcomes difficult.

The authors note, "[d]espite the wealth of literature describing means to improve women's access to maternity care during emergencies, know-how for effective implementation remains limited."