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Topic · Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health

Global Maternal and Child Health

Global Maternal and Child Health is a research topic within Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health. Science Explorer counts 62k research works in it since 1950. 9.9% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on global maternal and child health outcomes, with a particular emphasis on maternal and child mortality, health systems, global health initiatives, community health workers, stillbirths, health inequalities, antenatal care, and the influence of socio-economic factors. The papers explore various interventions and challenges in improving maternal and child health worldwide.

  • Maternal Mortality
  • Child Mortality
  • Health Systems
  • Global Health Initiatives
  • Community Health Workers
  • Stillbirths
  • Health Inequalities
  • Antenatal Care
  • Health Service Utilization
  • Socio-Economic Factors
Research works
62k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
6.1k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.9%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+12%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
26% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Global Maternal and Child Health

This ranks research output and citation impact. It says nothing about the quality of diagnosis, treatment or care.

Which countries lead Global Maternal and Child Health research?

By volume, the United States and India publish the most (2.6k and 1.7k works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 2.6k works
  2. 2 India 1.7k works
  3. 3 Ethiopia 1.1k works
  4. 4 Nigeria 1k works
  5. 5 United Kingdom 919 works
  6. 6 Brazil 709 works
  7. 7 Indonesia 550 works
  8. 8 South Africa 513 works
  9. 9 Australia 486 works
  10. 10 Kenya 458 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 26.0%India: 16.8%Ethiopia: 11.0%Nigeria: 10.1%6 others listed: 36.1%26%largest
United States2,623 · 26.0%India1,693 · 16.8%Ethiopia1,108 · 11.0%Nigeria1,022 · 10.1%6 others listed3,635 · 36.1%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Global Maternal and Child Health research?

By volume in 2022-now, University of Gondar publishes the most Global Maternal and Child Health research, followed by World Health Organization and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 University of GondarEthiopia 166 works
  2. 2 World Health OrganizationSwitzerland 148 works
  3. 3 University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUnited States 131 works
  4. 4 Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States 120 works
  5. 5 University of GhanaGhana 113 works
  6. 6 London School of Hygiene & Tropical MedicineUnited Kingdom 110 works
  7. 7 Makerere UniversityUganda 102 works
  8. 8 Harvard UniversityUnited States 88 works
  9. 9 All India Institute of Medical SciencesIndia 81 works
  10. 10 University of IbadanNigeria 78 works

Who are the leading researchers in Global Maternal and Child Health?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Global Maternal and Child Health include Christopher J L Murray, Simon Iain Hay and Theo Vos.

  1. 1 Christopher J L Murray United States 583k citations
  2. 2 Simon Iain Hay United States 452k citations
  3. 3 Theo Vos United States 439k citations
  4. 4 George Davey Smith United Kingdom 435k citations
  5. 5 Ali H. Mokdad United States 429k citations
  6. 6 Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta Pakistan 371k citations
  7. 7 Jost Bruno Jonas Germany 350k citations
  8. 8 Hermann Brenner Germany 343k citations
  9. 9 Cyrus Cooper United Kingdom 342k citations
  10. 10 Emelia J. Benjamin United States 341k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Global Maternal and Child Health?

The most cited paper in Global Maternal and Child Health is "Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019" (Theo Vos et al., 2020), with 19,980 citations. Next come "Global and regional mortality from 235 causes of death for 20 age groups in 1990 and 2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010" (14,344) and "Projections of Global Mortality and Burden of Disease from 2002 to 2030" (11,581).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 Theo Vos et al. · The Lancet Open access1,030 authors Oct 2020 19,980
2 Global and regional mortality from 235 causes of death for 20 age groups in 1990 and 2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 Rafael Lozano et al. · The Lancet Open access191 authors Dec 2012 14,344
3 Projections of Global Mortality and Burden of Disease from 2002 to 2030 Colin Douglas Mathers, Dejan Lončar · PLoS Medicine Open access 22 Nov 2006 11,581
4 Global, regional, and national age-sex-specific mortality for 282 causes of death in 195 countries and territories, 1980–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017 Gregory A. Roth et al. · The Lancet Open access1,020 authors Nov 2018 8,782
5 Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 310 diseases and injuries, 1990–2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015 Theo Vos et al. · The Lancet Open access637 authors Oct 2016 7,466
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Global Maternal and Child Health research done?

The largest centres of Global Maternal and Child Health research in 2022-now are London (United Kingdom), Nairobi (Kenya), Dhaka (Bangladesh) and Kampala (Uganda). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Gonder.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 LondonUnited Kingdom 387 works
  2. 2 NairobiKenya 291 works
  3. 3 DhakaBangladesh 252 works
  4. 4 KampalaUganda 231 works
  5. 5 New DelhiIndia 228 works
  6. 6 Addis AbabaEthiopia 221 works
  7. 7 AccraGhana 188 works
  8. 8 New YorkUnited States 168 works
  9. 9 GonderEthiopia 166 works
  10. 10 Washington D.C.United States 162 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. GonderET · 166.3 works68×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Global Maternal and Child Health than the world average.

See Global Maternal and Child Health on the map

Where is the best place to study Global Maternal and Child Health?

Among universities, judged by research, University of Gondar, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and University of Health and Allied Sciences score highest, combining citation excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%30%mean 16.61%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →University of GondarUniversity of Health…London School of Hyg…Makerere University
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Citation excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1University of GondarEthiopia 80.922.9%76.6×166 +50.1%
2London School of Hygiene & Tropical MedicineUnited Kingdom 72.517.4%46.8×110 -13.8%
3University of Health and Allied SciencesGhana 65.619.5%74.3×39 +56.5%
4Makerere UniversityUganda 64.811.3%38.8×102 +39.4%
5University of GhanaGhana 63.410.0%30.0×114 +36.7%
6Wollo UniversityEthiopia 63.018.2%53.3×47 +110.1%
7University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 62.416.6%3.0×62 -0.6%
8Samara UniversityEthiopia 62.024.1%65.9×18 +97.7%
9Johns Hopkins UniversityUnited States 61.714.6%5.2×120 -11.6%
10Aga Khan UniversityPakistan 61.611.5%22.8×61 +49.7%

Universities only. The score blends citation excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Global Maternal and Child Health, country by country

Is Global Maternal and Child Health research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 12% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Global Maternal and Child Health.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Global Maternal and Child Health as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.067% in 2024.

still counting0.050%0.10%Global Maternal and Child Health0.071% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Global Maternal and Child Health over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Global Maternal and Child Health10.1% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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