Prenatal care is crucial for maternal and fetal health in Rwanda, where remote areas pose significant challenges to access. A comprehensive search strategy was employed across multiple databases, including PubMed and Cochrane Library, using specific keywords related to CHWs, prenatal care, and rural settings. Studies published between and were included based on predefined inclusion criteria. The review identified a total of 15 studies with varying methodologies and outcomes. A consistent finding was the positive impact of CHW interventions on maternal health knowledge and attendance at prenatal care appointments, with an increased likelihood of attending follow-up visits ranging from 20% to 40%. While evidence suggests a beneficial effect of CHWs in improving access to and utilization of prenatal care services, there is variability across studies that need further investigation. Further research should focus on standardised protocols for training CHWs and evaluating their effectiveness longitudinally. Enhanced collaboration between community health systems and healthcare providers could also be explored. Treatment effect was estimated with logit (pᵢ) =₀+^ Xᵢ, and uncertainty reported using confidence-interval based inference.
Kabuga et al. (Sun,) studied this question.