BACKGROUND Maternal health care utilization is at the core of global public health provision and an area of focus in the now-concluded Millennium Development Goal agenda. OBJECTIVE This study aims to examine trends in maternal health care utilization over the last 15 years in Nepal, focusing on coverage and equity. METHODS This paper used data from the Demographic Health Survey (DHS) 2001, ...

The evidence-based policy (EBP) movement has received significant attention in the scientific literature; however, there is still very little empirical research to provide insight into how policy decisions are made and how evidence is used. The lack of research on this topic in low- and middle-income countries is of particular note. We examine the maternity waiting home policy in Timor-Leste to...

Reducing maternal mortality has been a global priority for more than two decades now, and Millennium Development Goal 5 targets a 75% reduction in maternal mortality ratios between 1990 and 2015. While some countries in sub-Saharan Africa have shown modest success in lowering their maternal mortality ratios, overall progress in reducing maternal mortality in the region has been Maternal Health ...

Proportion of women giving birth in health institutions has increased sharply in India since the introduction of cash incentive program, Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) in 2005. JSY was intended to benefit disadvantaged population who had poor access to institutional care for childbirth and who bore the brunt of maternal deaths. Increase in institutional deliveries following the implementation of ...

BACKGROUND A key aim of countries with high maternal mortality rates is to increase availability of competent maternal health care during pregnancy and childbirth. Yet, despite significant investment, countries with the highest burdens have not reduced their rates to the expected levels. We argue, taking Pakistan as a case study, that improving physical availability of services is necessary but...

BACKGROUND Afghanistan has made great strides in the coverage of health services across the country but coverage of key indicators remains low nationally and whether the poorest households are accessing these services is not well understood. METHODS We analyzed the Afghanistan Mortality Survey 2010 on utilization of inpatient and outpatient care, institutional delivery and antenatal care by w...

BACKGROUND Improving maternal health is one of the eight Millennium Development Goals. It is widely accepted that the use of maternal health services helps in reducing maternal morbidity and mortality. The utilization of maternal health services is a complex phenomenon and it is influenced by several factors. Therefore, the factors at different levels affecting the use of these services need to...

BACKGROUND The importance of strengthening maternal health services as a preventive intervention for morbidities and complications during pregnancy and delivery in developing countries cannot be over-emphasised, since use of prenatal health services improves maternal health outcomes. AIM This study investigated differences in risk factors for maternal complications in booked and unbooked preg...

BACKGROUND Among Millennium Development Goals, achieving the fifth goal (MDG-5) of reducing maternal mortality poses the greatest challenge in Sub-Saharan Africa. Ethiopia has one of the highest maternal mortality ratios in the world with unacceptably low maternal health service utilization. The Government of Ethiopia introduced an innovative community-based intervention as a national strategy ...

OBJECTIVE To obtain background information about maternal health and health-seeking behaviors among indigenous mothers living in rural Mam-Mayan communities of Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. METHODS A cross-sectional analysis of 100 pregnant and breastfeeding women in four communities was performed to determine prevalence and determinants of service utilization. RESULTS Extreme poverty, poor ed...