Background

Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response (MPDSR) systems provide an opportunity for health systems to understand the determinants of maternal and perinatal deaths in order to improve quality of care and prevent future deaths from occurring. While there has been broad uptake and learning from low- and middle-income countries, little is known on how to effectively implement MPDSR within humanitarian contexts – where disruptions in health service delivery are common, infrastructural damage and insecurity impact the accessibility of care, and severe financial and human resource shortages limit the quality and capacity to provide services to the most vulnerable. This study aimed to understand how contextual factors influence facility-based MPDSR interventions within five humanitarian contexts.