Cross-sectional study evaluating the effectiveness of the Mozambique–Canada maternal health project abstraction tool for maternal near miss identification in Inhambane province, Mozambique

The Mozambique-Canada Maternal Health Project tool enhances maternal near miss identification over the original WHO tool by incorporating expanded clinical criteria, particularly for conditions like hypertension and anaemia. Sociodemographic factors, including healthcare access, hospital type and maternal age, significantly impact near miss detection. These findings support integrating the expanded criteria into the WHO tool for improved identification of maternal near misses in Mozambique and similar low-resource settings. Future research should examine the tool's effectiveness across varied healthcare contexts and populations.