Characteristics of maternity waiting homes and the women who use them: Findings from a baseline cross-sectional household survey among SMGL-supported districts in Zambia.

MWHs, which currently take many forms in Zambia, are being used by over a third of women delivering at a health facility in our study. Although over half of women using the existing MWHs noted crowdedness and nearly a third reported problems with the physical quality of the building as well as with their interaction with staff, these MWHs appear to be bridging the distance barrier for women who live greater than 9.5 km from a health care facility.