Table 1 Operational definitions of key concepts
| Concept | Definition |
|---|---|
| Sub-Saharan African countries |
We followed the UN Development Program definition of sub-Saharan Africa which includes 46 countries, listed by region: East Africa (Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique) West Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo) Middle Africa (Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Sao Tomé & Principe) Southern Africa (Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) Indian ocean (Mauritius, Seychelles) |
| Facility birth | Any birth after 28 weeks of pregnancy occurring in a health facility |
| Postpartum care | Any maternal health care within the first six weeks (42 days) following birth, by a health professional, within or outside of a health facility [18] |
| Intervention | The level of implementation (e.g. community or health system level), the intervention target (e.g. pregnant women, husbands, health providers, etc.), the package implemented, the mode of implementation, the actors implementing the package, and the frequency and duration of implementation |
| Intervention effectiveness | We considered an intervention as effective if it increased facility births or provision of postpartum care as reported by the authors |