Obstetric Care in Poor Settings in Ghana, India, and Kenya
Women are at much greater risk in childbirth in developing countries than in developed countries. This report explores why maternal mortality continues to be so high in developing countries, and why emergency obstetric services are little utilized,...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2013
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2007/11/8959579/obstetric-care-poor-settings-ghana-india-kenya http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13770 |
| Summary: | Women are at much greater risk in
childbirth in developing countries than in developed
countries. This report explores why maternal mortality
continues to be so high in developing countries, and why
emergency obstetric services are little utilized, through
research carried out in poor areas in Ghana (Kassena-Nankana
district), India (Uttar Pradesh state), and Kenya (Nairobi
slums). The study employed both quantitative (household
surveys, verbal autopsies, and health facilities surveys)
and qualitative (focus groups and in-depth interviews)
methods. Among the three settings, maternal mortality ratio
was highest in the Nairobi slums, followed by Uttar Pradesh,
while the Kassena- Nankana district had the lowest. It is
intriguing that among the three settings, Nairobi slums had
the highest proportion of women (70 percent) who sought
professional assistance during delivery and yet the highest
maternal mortality. One possible explanation is the
different extent of legality of induced abortion in these
three countries. Of the major causes of maternal mortality,
the largest contrast among the study areas involved
complications of abortion, which were almost four times
higher in the Kenya slums than in the north of Ghana or in
Uttar Pradesh. A large proportion of health facilities
assessed in the three study areas were not capable of
providing all six elements of basic emergency obstetric care. |
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