Maternity waiting homes as a cost‐effective intervention in rural Liberia
Open accessAbstract
Objective: To analyze the cost‐effectiveness of maternity waiting homes (MWH s) in rural Liberia by examining the cost per life saved and economic effect of MWH s on maternal mortality. Methods: A cost‐effectiveness analysis was used to evaluate costs and economic effect of MWH s on maternal mortality in rural Liberia to guide future resource allocation. A secondary data analysis was performed based on a prior quasi‐experimental cohort study of 10 rural primary healthcare facilities, five with a MWH and five without a MWH, that took place from October 30, 2010 to February 28, 2015. Results: Calculations signified a low cost per year of life saved at MWH s in a rural district in Liberia. Total population‐adjusted number of women's lives saved over 3 years was 6.25. Conclusion: While initial costs were considerable, over a period of 10 or more years MWH s could be a cost‐effective and affordable strategy to reduce maternal mortality rates in Liberia. Discussion of the scaling up of MWH interventions for improving maternal outcomes in Liberia and other low‐ and middle‐income countries is justified. Findings can be used to advocate for policy changes to increase the apportionment of resources for building more MWH s in low resource settings.
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Maternity Waiting Homes were a cost-effective intervention in rural Liberia.
“MWHs have increased institutional deliveries in Southwest Ethiopia by 61.4% in 140 cases (Hailu et al., Citation2021), increased MWH facility delivery in Zambia by 7.57% (Perosky et al., Citation2019), reduced maternal death by 80% in Ethiopia (Dadi et al., Citation2018), and nurtured a cost-effective intervention in rural Liberia (Buser et al., Citation2019).”
From Recommendations to improve maternal mortality among Rohingya women in Bangladeshi refugee camps (2025) · cites this paper as Buser et al., 2019
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Cites
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Cost-effectiveness analysis of interventions to prevent cardiovascular disease in Vietnam
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Recommendations to improve maternal mortality among Rohingya women in Bangladeshi refugee camps
Agarwal, A., Surti, V., & Terry, M. A. (2025) · Health Care for Women International · doi:10.1080/07399332.2024.2349820 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“…deliveries in Southwest Ethiopia by 61.4% in 140 cases (Hailu et al., 2021), increased MWH facility delivery in Zambia by 7.57% (Perosky et al., 2019), reduced maternal death by 80% in Ethiopia (Dadi et al., 2018), and nurtured a cost-effective intervention in rural Liberia (Buser et al., 2019).”
Influential
- Authors
- Buser, J. M., Munro‐Kramer, M. L., Carney, M., Kofa, A., Cole, G. G., & Lori, J. R.
- Affiliations
- University of Michigan (US)
- College of the Holy Cross (US)
- Ministry of Health Bong County Health Team Suakoko Bong County Liberia
- Corresponding author
- Buser, Julie M.
- Venue
- International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2019-05-13
- Volume
- 146
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 74-79
- ISSN
- 0020-6695 (ISSN-L)
- 0020-7292
- 1879-3479
- OpenAlex
- W2940855889
- Cited by
- 16
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 1.29
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Deep Blue (University of Michigan) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- United States Agency for International Development (USAID-M-OOA-GH-HSR-10-40)
- University of Michigan
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Global Maternal and Child Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Maternal and fetal healthcare
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Global Health and Surgery
- Keywords
- maternity waiting homes, maternal mortality, cost-effectiveness, rural health care, primary healthcare facilities, cost per life saved, scaling up interventions, low- and middle-income countries, Liberia
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Cost-Benefit Analysis, Female, Humans, Liberia, Maternal Health Services, Maternal Mortality, Pregnancy, Prenatal Care, Rural Population, Cohort Studies, Maternal Death, Non-Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
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