Evaluation of policies for free maternal healthcare in low/middle-income countries: a scoping review protocol

INTRODUCTION: Improving maternal health remains a health priority at the global and national levels. As part of the global strategy, many low/middle-income countries (LMICs) have implemented free primary healthcare policies for different service packages including maternal health. Free maternal healthcare policies aim to improve maternal health by removing the financial burden of accessing maternal healthcare services. The objective of this scoping review is to assess evaluations of free maternal healthcare policies and the impact on maternal health in LMICs. This will help identify theoretical and methodological approaches (or gaps if any) for evaluating the impact of free maternal healthcare policies to inform future work. It will also provide an evidence base for policymakers and other stakeholder with an interest in planning, funding and implementing evidence based and effective interventions to improving maternal health outcomes. METHODS: The scoping review will follow the methodological framework proposed by Arksey and O’Malley and refined by Joanna Briggs Institute. It will involve a literature search of the PubMed, Scopus ScienceDirect, Web of Science and CINAHL databases for peer-reviewed journal articles related to the impact of free maternal health policies in LMICs published from 2000 to the present. Two reviewers will screen and appraise eligible articles using preset criteria based on the ‘population-concept-context’ framework. A data extraction framework will be used to extract and chart data from the reviewed articles. The results will be analysed using descriptive numerical summary analysis and qualitative thematic analysis. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval is not required as the scoping review will synthesise information from publicly available materials. Dissemination will be through publication in a peer-reviewed journal and presentation at relevant conferences and workshops.