OBJECTIVE To propose an antenatal care classification for measuring the continuum of health care based on the concept of adequacy: timeliness of entry into antenatal care, number of antenatal care visits and key processes of care. METHODS In a cross-sectional, retrospective study we used data from the Mexican National Health and Nutrition Survey (ENSANUT) in 2012. This contained self-reported...

BACKGROUND Early and frequent antenatal care attendance during pregnancy is important to identify and mitigate risk factors in pregnancy and to encourage women to have a skilled attendant at childbirth. However, many pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa start antenatal care attendance late, particularly adolescent pregnant women. Therefore they do not fully benefit from its preventive and curat...

INTRODUCTION Maternal and newborn deaths occur predominantly in low-resource settings. Community-based packages of evidence-based interventions and skilled birth attendance can reduce these deaths. The Maternal and Newborn Health in Ethiopia Partnership (MaNHEP) used community-level health workers to conduct prenatal Community Maternal and Newborn Health family meetings to build skills and care...

background and purpose: equity in access to health care has become a desirable policy objective. therefore, accessibility to health care should be provided based on health needs rather than socio- demographic variables. this will lead to a better utilization of health care and improvement of equity in health. the aim of this paper is to examine the effects of family socio-economic status as an ...

Maternal health across Papua New Guinea (PNG) is of extreme public health concern. In response, the National Department of Health explicitly prioritized improving maternal, neonatal and child health services, envisaging increased collaboration between the formal health system and community-based initiatives as one method for achieving this. This study examined the patterns of formal and non-for...

conclusions in spite of improvements in the national health indicator, different groups of people use health care services differently, but these inequities in hcu are related to social and individual factors. also, it is clear that health sector facilities and the accessibility to health services are not the only predictors. results 66.4% of those in need sought outpatient health care from whi...

Background: The spectrum of causes leading to maternal morbidity and mortality may be well reflected in the clinical profile of obstetric patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). An audit of these patients may help in devising intervention strategies and implementing preventive measures. This is expected to contribute to the ongoing concerted multipronged efforts towards reducing mat...

BACKGROUND Karnataka State continues to have the highest rates of maternal mortality in south India at 144/100,000 live births, but lower than the national estimates of 190-220/100,000 live births. Various barriers exist to timely and appropriate utilization of services during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum. This study aimed to describe the patterns and determinants of routine and emergen...

BACKGROUND Notwithstanding the significant progress in reducing maternal mortality in recent years, social inequalities in the utilization of maternal care continue to be a challenge in Bangladesh. In this study, we aim to provide a comprehensive analysis of trends in social inequalities in utilization of antenatal care (ANC), facility based delivery (FBD), and skilled birth attendance (SBA) in...