Access to maternal health services for young women with disabilities in Sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review protocol

IntroductionYoung women with disabilities (WWDs) face multiple barriers in accessing maternal healthcare services in low-resource settings. Consequently, they are at an increased risk of adverse maternal health outcomes due to young age and having a disability. This review focuses on synthesising ev...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:BMJ open Vol. 15; no. 10; p. e106638
Main Authors: Pebolo, Pebalo Francis, Kimera, Emmanuel, Nkulu Kalengayi, Faustine Kyungu, Namatovu, Fredinah
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: England British Medical Journal Publishing Group 20.10.2025
BMJ Publishing Group LTD
BMJ Publishing Group
Subjects:
Adolescent
Africa South of the Sahara
Age groups
Delivery of Health Care
Delivery of Health Care, Integrated
Developing countries
Disability
Disabled Persons
Female
Handicapped accessibility
Health services
Health Services Accessibility
Hearing loss
Humans
Integrated
LDCs
Maternal & child health
Maternal Health Services
Maternal medicine
Obstetrics and gynaecology
People with disabilities
Persons with Disabilities - statistics & numerical data
Postpartum period
Pregnancy
Prenatal care
Reproductive health
Research Design
Scoping Review as Topic
Womens health
Africa South of the Sahara
Sub-Saharan Africa
Delivery of Health Care, Integrated
Health Services Accessibility
Disabled Persons
Maternal medicine
ISSN:2044-6055, 2044-6055
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Summary:IntroductionYoung women with disabilities (WWDs) face multiple barriers in accessing maternal healthcare services in low-resource settings. Consequently, they are at an increased risk of adverse maternal health outcomes due to young age and having a disability. This review focuses on synthesising evidence regarding the extent of access to maternal healthcare services and the barriers faced by young WWDs in Sub-Saharan Africa.Methods and analysisWe will conduct a scoping review guided by the updated Joanna Briggs Institute methodology for scoping reviews. A systematic search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scopus, CINAHL, Web of Science Core Collection, Global Health, African Journal Online and Women’s Studies International will be performed to identify relevant articles published in English from 2007 to 2025. A team of two reviewers will independently screen the retrieved articles for relevancy based on the inclusion criteria, and a thematic synthesis will be undertaken to develop a descriptive analysis.Ethics and disseminationSince this review will only involve the analysis of published data, it does not require ethical approval. The results will be published in a peer-reviewed journal.RegistrationThis review has been registered with the Open Science Framework DOI; https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/Q7Y8S.
Bibliography:Protocol
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ISSN:2044-6055
2044-6055
DOI:10.1136/bmjopen-2025-106638