Call for papers - Labor and birth interventions in low- and middle-income countries

Guest Editors

Edward Tieru Dassah, MD, MPH, PhD, FWACS, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana
Sutapa Bandyopdhyay Neogi, MD, DNB, International Institute of Health Management Research, India
Viraraghavan Vadakkencherry Ramaswamy, MD, DM, DNB, Ankura Hospital for Women and Children, India

Submission Status: Open | Submission Deadline: 15 May 2025

BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth is calling for submissions to our Collection on Labor and birth interventions in low- and middle-income countries.

In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), healthcare during labor and birth can be hampered by various infrastructural, economic, and medical limitations, leading to disparities in the use of lifesaving interventions. Improving our understanding of these challenges is crucial for addressing inequalities in maternal and neonatal outcomes and ensuring the delivery of safe, evidence-based care.

New Content Item This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being and SDG 5: Gender Equality.

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Meet the Guest Editors

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Edward Tieru Dassah, MD, MPH, PhD, FWACS, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana

Dr Dassah is a Consultant Obstetrician/Gynaecologist, Public Health Physician and an Epidemiologist at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana. His research has focused on family planning, cervical cancer, interprofessional collaboration, and improving perinatal outcomes including the uptake of health interventions with the ultimate goal of optimizing pregnancy outcomes for women and their children, especially in low-resource settings. He has also contributed to policy briefs and co-authored book chapters. He serves on several committees/boards both locally and internationally. He is currently an Associate Editor of BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. His current research interests include reproductive and women’s health.

Sutapa Bandyopdhyay Neogi, MD, DNB, International Institute of Health Management Research, India

Dr Sutapa B. Neogi is a public health specialist and presently the Director of the International Institute of Health Management Research (IIHMR), Delhi. She has a rich experience in public health and is particularly interested in the implementation of epidemiological and clinical research-based projects centered around maternal and child health, and those with great relevance to national policies and programs. She seeks to nurture researchers and bring people together who could be effective linkages between disciplines and promote interdisciplinary research in the country.

Viraraghavan Vadakkencherry Ramaswamy, MD, DM, DNB, Ankura Hospital for Women and Children, India

Dr Ramaswamy is a Consultant Neonatologist and a researcher presently working in India in a tertiary care teaching institute. He has around 80 publications in indexed journals including the Lancet, JAMA Paediatrics, Resuscitation, Archives of Diseases in Childhood FNN, and others. Dr Ramaswamy also is an Associate Task Force Member of the Neonatal Life Support wing of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) and a member of the Indian Resuscitation Council Federation (IRCF). He continues to be a working member and an Editorial coordinator of the National Neonatal Forum, India, Clinical Practice Guidelines group, which formulates the guidelines related to newborn health in India. He also serves as a member of the Cochrane Neonatal group and is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Neonatology and BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth.

About the Collection

BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth is calling for submissions to our Collection on Labor and birth interventions in low- and middle-income countries.

In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), the availability and quality of healthcare during labor and birth are often limited by systemic challenges, including inadequate infrastructure, insufficient healthcare workforce, and economic constraints. The healthcare landscape of LMICs may lead to the underutilization of some lifesaving interventions due to resource constraints, while other interventions may be overused in the absence of more appropriate options. Advancing our collective understanding in this area is vital for addressing disparities in maternal and neonatal outcomes and ensuring the provision of evidence-based, safe, and effective interventions.

BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth is launching a new Collection, Labor and birth interventions in low- and middle-income countries, to gather research that explores the current landscape of labor and birth interventions in resource-limited settings. The Collection invites researchers and clinicians in fields including public health, epidemiology, obstetrics, midwifery, gynecology, and perinatology to contribute research that explores topics including, but not limited to, evaluations of clinical practices, the impact of surgical and assisted vaginal births, the use of oxytocin and other labor-inducing interventions, the effects of resource constraints on medical decision making, and fetal monitoring and management of fetal distress.

This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being and SDG 5: Gender Equality.

There are currently no articles in this collection.

Submission Guidelines

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This Collection welcomes submission of original Research Articles. Should you wish to submit a different article type, please read our submission guidelines to confirm that type is accepted by the journal. Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system, Snapp. During the submission process you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection, please select "Labor and birth interventions in low- and middle-income countries" from the dropdown menu.

Articles will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process and are subject to all of the journal’s standard policies. Articles will be added to the Collection as they are published.

The Editors have no competing interests with the submissions which they handle through the peer review process. The peer review of any submissions for which the Editors have competing interests is handled by another Editorial Board Member who has no competing interests.