BACKGROUND This study explores the consequences of a maternal death to households in rural Western Kenya focusing particularly on the immediate financial and economic impacts. METHODS Between September 2011 and March 2013 all households in the study area with a maternal death were surveyed. Data were collected on the demographic characteristics of the deceased woman; household socio-economic ...

Background. Low use of maternal healthcare services is one of the reasons why maternal mortality is still considerably high among adolescents mothers in India. To increase the utilization of these services, it is necessary to identify factors that affect service utilization. To our knowledge, no national level study in India has yet examined the issue in the context urban adolescent mothers. Th...

BACKGROUND Healthcare behavior occurs within the context of the family unit. Little research has investigated the influences among adult family members regarding their use of medical care services. OBJECTIVES To investigate the effects of maternal attendance patterns and maternal self-assessed health status on those of adult children. METHODS This study was a retrospective cohort, analyzing...

BACKGROUND The Michigan Maternal and Infant Health Program (MIHP) is a population-based home-visitation program providing care coordination, referrals, and visits based on a plan of care. MIHP is available to all Medicaid-eligible pregnant women and infants aged ≤1 year in Michigan. PURPOSE To assess the effects of MIHP participation on maternal and infant healthcare utilization. METHODS Pr...

background: maternal health care utilization continues to focus on the agenda of health care planners around the world, with high attention being paid to the developing countries. the devastating effect of maternal death at birth on the affected families is untold. this study examines the utilization of obstetric care in the democratic republic of congo. we have used the nationally representati...

Background Despite numerous efforts to improve maternal and child health in Malawi, maternal and newborn mortality rates remain very high, with the country having one of the highest maternal mortality ratios globally. The aim of this study was to identify which individual factors best predict utilisation of skilled maternal healthcare in a sample of women residing in Lilongwe district of ...

BACKGROUND Worldwide, about 287 000 women die each year from mostly preventable complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. A disproportionately high number of these deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa. The Abiye ('Safe Motherhood') project in the Ifedore Local Government Area (LGA) of Ondo-State of Nigeria aimed at improving facility utilization and maternal health through the use of cel...

The main asset of farmers is their labour and the utilization of healthcare services will help to improve their health and thus productivity. Some of the problems inhibiting proper utilization of healthcare services in Nigeria include non-availability, inaccessibility and high cost of medical care. The aim of this paper is to examine the determinants of the Utilization of Healthcare Services am...

BACKGROUND Considering the global and national level commitments in improving the maternal health as well as reducing the maternal mortality, assessment of factors influencing the delivery of antenatal healthcare services becomes essential. OBJECTIVES The aim is to assess the utilization of antenatal health services and to identify the factors influencing their utilization among women of fish...

BACKGROUND Data on cause-specific mortality, skilled birth attendance, and emergency obstetric care access are essential to plan maternity services. We present the distribution of India's 2001-2003 maternal mortality by cause and uptake of emergency obstetric care, in poorer and richer states. METHODS AND FINDINGS The Registrar General of India surveyed all deaths occurring in 2001-2003 in 1....