Interventions to reduce inequalities for pregnant women living with disadvantage in high-income countries: an umbrella review.

Background: Women facing multiple disadvantage such as financial poverty, poor mental health or domestic abuse, may experience inequalities in health prior to and during pregnancy, as well as into early motherhood. This can have lifelong intergenerational impacts. The primary aim of this overview was to identify the breadth and efficacy of interventions that work across health and social care to reduce inequalities in maternal or child health. The second aim was to explore their relevance to women with lived experience.

Methods: An overview of systematic reviews and meta-analyses from high-income countries that aim to reduce inequalities for women with social disadvantage during pregnancy was performed. Searches were conducted in eight electronic databases up to August 2023 and supplemented with grey literature searches. We included any individual, hospital, or community level activities specific to women during the pre-conception, antenatal or postpartum period up to one year after. The protocol was registered. Two workshops with women with lived experience of disadvantage explored the relevance of identified interventions, and gaps in evidence, in relation to their experiences.

Results: A total of 36 reviews, including 734 primary studies, were included in the narrative synthesis. The majority of reviews included studies undertaken in North America and were of critically low or low quality. Interventions were grouped into 11 categories. The majority of interventions were aimed at single social exposures and targeted individual behavior during pregnancy and the postnatal period. Some at risk populations were excluded from all reviews. There was potential benefit of home-based interventions, psychosocial interventions, models of maternity care and interdisciplinary programs of care for some population groups, across a range of maternal and child health outcomes. Our lived experience group felt these interventions had potential to meet their shared needs for advocacy, support and information, but they should also consider culture, past trauma and factors underpinning pregnancy such as housing and finances.

Conclusions: Further high-quality research is required to demonstrate efficacy and cost-effectiveness of potentially effective interventions in the European health systems. Additional research gaps include interventions prior to pregnancy, culture informed care and upstream determinants of health (PROSPERO: CRD42023455502).