Call for papers - Hybrid pregnancy care

Guest Editors

Girma Gilano, BSc, MPH, Arba Minch University, Ethiopia
Peiyin Hung, PhD, MSPH, University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health, USA

Submission Status: Open | Submission Deadline: 15 December 2025

BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth is calling for submissions to our Collection on Hybrid pregnancy care.

This Collection aims to explore the diverse applications and outcomes of hybrid models in prenatal care. Hybrid pregnancy care integrates traditional in-person prenatal services with telehealth and digital health interventions. The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the necessity for flexible and accessible healthcare solutions, revealing the challenges faced by pregnant individuals, particularly in rural and underserved areas. By understanding hybrid pregnancy care, we can identify effective strategies that enhance maternal and fetal health outcomes near and far.

New Content Item This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 3: Good Health & Well-Being.

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Meet the Guest Editors

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Girma Gilano, BSc, MPH, Arba Minch University, Ethiopia

Girma Gilano was born in Karat, a small town in the Konso zone of South Ethiopia. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree at Jimma University in Western Oromiya and his Master's of Public Health at Gondar University in Northern Ethiopia. He is currently completing his PhD at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands, which he will defend in the next five months. His research primarily focuses on various aspects of health systems in Ethiopia, addressing critical issues such as child nutrition, maternal health, and vaccination rates. Gilano has authored at least 35 articles published in internationally reputable journals.

Peiyin Hung, PhD, MSPH, University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health, USA

Dr Peiyin Hung is the Co-Director of the University of South Carolina (USC) Rural Health Research Center and Associate Professor at the USC Arnold School of Public Health. A health services researcher and econometrician, her work focuses on advancing health equity by examining healthcare access, quality, and patient outcomes, particularly for rural populations. She specializes in using big data, mixed methods, and interdisciplinary approaches to investigate spatial-temporal differences in maternal healthcare delivery and identify effective policy interventions. Dr Hung has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and presented at >100 national and international conferences. She has served or been serving as Principal Investigator (PI), Co-PI, and Co-Investigator on several NIH-, CDC-, HRSA-, and SC DHHS-funded grants examining healthcare delivery, health care utilization, health behaviors, and outcomes of vulnerable populations.

About the Collection

BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth is calling for submissions to our Collection on Hybrid pregnancy care.

The hybrid model of pregnancy care uses traditional in-person healthcare in conjunction with telehealth and digital health interventions across the continuum of perinatal care, including preconception consultation, antenatal care, discharge planning, and postpartum care. This model helps address challenges in perinatal care delivery, such as geographic and socioeconomic barriers, provider shortages, and the demand for flexible healthcare options, particularly highlighted during public health emergencies. Hybrid care models have shown promise in improving access to care and clinical outcomes while reducing costs. Understanding this alternative model to healthcare is crucial for advancing maternal and fetal health, reducing disparities, and informing the development of scalable, equitable healthcare solutions for diverse populations.

BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth is launching a new Collection, Hybrid pregnancy care, to elucidate this evolving alternative model of healthcare. The Collection invites researchers and clinicians in fields including obstetrics, maternal-fetal medicine, midwifery, perinatal nursing, neonatology, public health, and sociology to contribute research that explores topics including, but not limited to, e-health applications across the perinatal care continuum, remote antenatal care for rural and underserved populations, the effectiveness of hybrid models, and strategies for digital health integration in addressing health disparities.

All manuscripts submitted to this journal, including those submitted to collections and special issues, are assessed in line with our editorial policies and the journal’s peer review process. Reviewers and editors are required to declare competing interests and can be excluded from the peer review process if a competing interest exists.

There are currently no articles in this collection.

Submission Guidelines

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This Collection welcomes submission of original Research Articles. Should you wish to submit a different article type, please read our submission guidelines to confirm that type is accepted by the journal. Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system, Snapp. During the submission process you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection, please select "Hybrid pregnancy care" from the dropdown menu.

All manuscripts submitted to this journal, including those submitted to collections and special issues, are assessed in line with our editorial policies and the journal’s peer review process. Reviewers and editors are required to declare competing interests and can be excluded from the peer review process if a competing interest exists.