Background Kenya introduced a free maternity policy in 2013 to address the cost barrier associated with accessing maternal health services. We carried out a mixed methods process evaluation of the policy to examine the extent to which the policy had been implemented according to design, and positive experiences and challenges encountered during implementation.   Methods We conducted a mixed met...

The main question addressed here is the effect of Out of Pocket Payments on the Utilization of Healthcare Services among farmers in Oyo State. A multistage random sampling technique was used to solicit responses from 140 farmers on the type and degree of utilization of the various types of healthcare services available to the farmers, the determinants of Out of Pockets Payments and the factors ...

BACKGROUND China has since the beginning of this millennium engaged in substantial Universal Health Coverage (UHC) reforms. This paper adds evidence on how equity in level of health service utilization changed after UHC reforms. METHODS Our study was based on household survey data from 30 counties in Sichuan province in 2004 and 2011. We introduce an unusual outcome variable, namely level of ...

Current studies on the utilization of maternal care services in India focus on individual factors. In the present study, we use the theoretical model developed by Andersen and Newman [1973. Societal and individual determinants of medical care utilization in the United States. Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly, 51(1), 95-124] to understand the utilization of maternal care services in rural areas o...

BACKGROUND Late arrival in hospital by women experiencing pregnancy complications is an important background factor leading to maternal mortality in Nigeria. The use of effective and timely emergency obstetric care determines whether women survive or die, or become near-miss cases. Healthcare managers have the responsibility to deploy resources for implementing emergency obstetric care. OBJEC...

BACKGROUND The phenomenon of inequitable healthcare utilization in rural China interests policymakers and researchers; however, the inequity has not been actually measured to present the magnitude and trend using nationally representative data. METHODS Based on the National Health Service Survey (NHSS) in 1993, 1998, 2003, and 2008, the Probit model with the probability of outpatient visit an...

OBJECTIVE Postnatal care is an important issue in maintaining and promoting maternal and neonatal health. However, utilization of postpartum maternal health care services is at a low rate in many countries. This study was aimed to investigate the impact of integrated obstetric and neonatal services on utilization rates of postnatal health care service among mothers. METHODS This study was per...

BACKGROUND The 20th century was marked by a significant improvement in worldwide human health and access to healthcare. However, these improvements were not completely or uniformly distributed among, or even within, nations. This study was designed to assess the use of maternal health services by pregnant women in China, with a focus on the inequity related to family income level. METHODS Two...