Archives of Public Health volume 80 , Article number: Cite this article. Metrics details. Globally, Sierra Leone has some of the worst maternal and child health indicators. The situation is worsened by a dearth of evidence about the level of continuum of care, an evidence-based intervention aimed at reducing maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality.
Hence this study aimed to assess the level of and factors associated with continuum of maternal and newborn care in Sierra Leone. Complete continuum of care was considered when a woman reported having had at least eight antenatal care contacts, skilled birth attendance and mother and baby had at least one postnatal check-up. Bi-variable and multivariable logistic regression were performed using the statistical package for the social sciences software version Only Having started antenatal care within the first trimester aOR 1.
The overall completion of continuum of maternal care is low, with ANC being the lowest utilized component of continuum of care. These findings call for urgent attention for maternal health stakeholders to develop and implement tailored interventions prioritizing women empowerment, access to affordable internet services, timely initiation of ANC contacts, women in developed regions such as the Western and those from poor households.
Peer Review reports. Globally, Maternal and child health MCH is still a key public health priority because many countries risk missing the sustainable development goal SDG 3 targets of reducing maternal mortality ratio MMR and neonatal mortality ratio NMR to less than 70 deaths per , live and 12 per live births respectively by [ 1 , 2 ].
Many countries across the globe continue to grapple with high maternal and perinatal mortality rates [ 2 ]. Even within sub-Saharan Africa SSA , major disparities exist with countries like Zambia having a MMR of deaths per , live births [ 6 , 7 ] while Sierra Leone not only remains one of the poorest countries, it also reports some of the worst MCH indicators globally [ 8 , 9 , 10 ].
