A Two-Year Retrospective Study

Background: Maternal and neonatal mortality remain important public health challenges in Somalia, where access to affordable and quality maternity care can be limited. Hospital-sponsored programmes that provide free maternity services combined with home-based midwife follow-up may help address barriers to essential maternal and newborn care. However, evidence describing outcomes among women enrolled in such programmes in Somalia remains limited. This study described maternal and neonatal outcomes among women participating in a hospital-sponsored free maternity care programme. Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted using routinely collected programme data from Yardimeli Specialist Hospital, Somalia, from January 2023 to January 2025. Of 201 women enrolled in the programme, 17 were excluded because outcome follow-up information was unavailable, leaving 184 women in the final analytical cohort. Maternal, pregnancy, delivery, and neonatal outcomes were summarized using descriptive statistics.