Contemporary Perspectives in Women's and Maternal Health: Systems, Prevention, Nutrition and Midwifery-Led Innovation

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue seeks to offer an integrative, multidisciplinary exploration of women’s and maternal health within the broader context of evolving health systems and global public health priorities. While emphasizing prevention, nutritional care, and midwifery-led practices, it also aims to critically examine how structural, policy, and sociocultural determinants shape access, quality, and equity in maternal care.

We particularly welcome contributions that interrogate persistent challenges—such as fragmented care pathways, the underutilization of evidence-based interventions, and policy inertia—and propose forward-thinking solutions informed by health systems research, implementation science, and intersectional theory.

Key areas of interest include the following:

• Nutritional status and micronutrient deficiencies (e.g., vitamin D, iron, and folate) during pregnancy and postpartum;
• Preventive and promotive strategies for women of reproductive age across different health systems;
• Midwifery-led care models: innovations, challenges to traditional hierarchies, and integration into interdisciplinary teams;
• Mental health and psychosocial support in the perinatal period;
• Impact of structural and social determinants (e.g., education, income, migration status, and gender norms) on maternal and neonatal outcomes;
• Use of digital health technologies and telemonitoring in pregnancy and postpartum care;
• Climate-related and environmental risks to reproductive and maternal health;
• Community-based care, participatory approaches, and culturally responsive practices;
• Comparative health policy, health economics, and anthropological perspectives on maternal health;
• Interdisciplinary collaborations across public health, obstetrics, midwifery, nutrition, mental health, and the social sciences.

This Special Issue invites empirical research, critical reviews, policy analyses, and case studies from diverse global contexts, particularly those addressing intersectional and systemic approaches to maternal health equity.

Prof. Dr. Georgios Iatrakis
Guest Editor

Dr. Kokkinari Artemisia
Guest Editor Assistant

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Healthcare is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• maternal health
• women’s health
• midwifery
• nutrition
• health systems
• prevention
• pregnancy
• postpartum
• social determinants
• policy barriers
• health equity
• antenatal care
• digital health
• climate and health
• interdisciplinary research