BACKGROUND Kenya has a high maternal mortality rate. Provision of skilled delivery plays a major role in reducing maternal mortality. Cost is a hindrance to the utilization of skilled delivery. The Government of Kenya introduced a policy of free delivery services in government facilities beginning June 2013. We sought to determine the impact of this intervention on facility based deliveries in ...

Submitted Chapter 3

Building on expressed support from the Prime Minister to the Ministries of Health and Planning, the country's new family planning commitment grew out of: (1) recognition of the impact of family planning on maternal mortality and economic development; (2) knowledge sharing of best practices from other African countries; (3) participatory development of a national strategic plan; (4) strong colla...

This paper explores the effect of risk and socioeconomic factors on maternal mortality at the community level in Madagascar using a unique, nationwide panel of communes (i.e., counties). Previous work in this area uses individual or cross-country data to study maternal mortality, however, studying maternal mortality at the community level is imperative because this is the level at which most po...

In all developed countries today males have higher mortality than females at all ages but in many developing countries the reverse is true for part or all of the age range 1-44 years (1-3). For adults, one major cause of higher female mortality IS maternal mortality; clearly, for children there must be other causes. This article reviews the major hypotheses concerning the causes of higher femal...

BACKGROUND As the Millennium Development Goals campaign (MDGs) came to a close, clear evidence was needed on the contribution of the worldwide MDG campaign. OBJECTIVE We seek to determine the degree of difference in the reduction rate between the pre-MDG and MDG campaign periods and its statistical significance by region. DESIGN Unlike the prevailing studies that measured progress in 1990-2...

In the year 2000, 529 000 maternal deaths were recorded throughout the world. Of these, 95% occurred in Africa and Asia, 4% in Latin America and the Caribbean, and less than 1% in the developed countries. The global maternal mortality rate is 400 per 100 000 live births, while it is 830/100 000 in Africa, followed by 330/100 000 in Asia (excluding Japan). Worldwide, 13 developing countries acco...

now of such differentials in societies with very different social structures to those of Britain today. When Chapin documented mortality differentials in Providence in 1924 he hoped that such a demonstration would be preparation for "what should be of great value, namely a study of the habits of life and environment which make for the longevity of the well-to-do."28 This still pertains. Social ...