Introduction

Ethiopia was one of the pioneer countries to implement the World Health Organization’s Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response (MPDSR) system to accelerate the reduction in maternal and perinatal mortality. However, there has been no systematic evaluation of its implementation in Ethiopia and that’s why we conducted this systematic review.

Methods

A systematic review was conducted to synthesize the evidence on coverage, facilitators or barriers to MPDSR implementation in Ethiopia. We searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, PubMed Central, and Google Scholar using relevant key terms. In addition, Ethiopian Public Health Institute websites searched for additional data. Articles published before 2013 excluded from this review. The methodological quality of the studies assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute’s quality appraisal tool. For quantitative studies, descriptive analysis conducted; thematic synthesis used for qualitative studies.

Results

From twenty studies included, 12 only reported maternal death reviews while eight included maternal and perinatal death reviews. During the reporting period, the coverage of maternal and perinatal deaths remained less than 22.1% and 12.1% of the expected deaths respectively. Reported facilitators were community involvement, sufficient capacity building, and supportive supervision. Reported barriers were lack of conducive learning environment, fear of blame and litigation, lack of financial resources, high staff turnover, and defensive attitudes and practices.

Conclusions

Despite all efforts, the uptake of MPDSR has been low. Addressing identified barriers and utilizing identified facilitators essential for optimising MPDSR implementation in Ethiopia.

Registration

PROSPERO Registration Number: CRD42022315199.

© 2025. The Author(s).