Trends and Determinants of Utilization of Maternal Health Care Services in Amhara National Regional State: Evidence from EDHS 2000 and 2005

Habtamu, Zerihun (2008) Trends and Determinants of Utilization of Maternal Health Care Services in Amhara National Regional State: Evidence from EDHS 2000 and 2005. Masters thesis, Addis Ababa University.

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Abstract

It is estimated that each year more than half a million women – roughly one woman every minute – die because of pregnancy complications and childbirth. Some 99 percent of all maternal deaths occur in developing countries, with over 90 percent of those in Africa and Asia. Two thirds of maternal deaths in 2000 occurred in 13 of the world’s poorest countries. The same year, India alone accounted for one quarter of all maternal deaths (UNICEF, 2007). Maternal mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa remains a burden to reckon with, one out of every 16 Sub-Saharan African women die as a result of pregnancy or childbirth, compared to just 1 out of every 4,000 in industrialized countries. Moreover, motherless newborns are between 3 and 10 times more likely to die than newborns whose mothers survive. Many of these women’s lives could be saved if they had access to basic health care services, including skilled attendants at all births and emergency obstetric care for women who develop complications (UNICEF, 2007). Of all the health statistics monitored by the World Health Organization, maternal mortality is the one with the largest discrepancy between developed and developing countries. At least 35% of women in developing countries still receive no antenatal care, almost 50% give birth without a skilled attendant and 70% receive no postpartum care. In contrast, maternal health care is nearly universal in developed countries (WHO, 1998). Proponents of the health perspective argue that several interventions may be critical to reduce maternal mortality, including antenatal care, family planning services, safe and legal abortion, trained medical attendants at delivery, and emergency obstetric care (Shiffman, 2000). As a result of pregnancy complication, In addition to the number of deaths each year, over 50 million more women suffer from maternal morbidity – acute complications from pregnancy. For at least 18 million women, these morbidities are long-term and often devastating (WHO, 1998). These large differences in access to maternal health care continue to exist between richer and poorer women, urban and rural women, and educated and uneducated women. A range of barriers limits women’s access to care, including: distance, cost, multiple demands on women’s time, poverty and lack of decision-making power. Ensuring women to have access to maternal health care, particularly at delivery and in case of complications, is essential to save their lives (Anwar et al., 2004; Marston et al., 2003; WHO, 1998).

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine R Medicine > RJ Pediatrics > RJ101 Child Health. Child health services
Divisions:	Africana
Depositing User:	Tim Khabala
Date Deposited:	04 Jul 2018 07:27
Last Modified:	04 Jul 2018 07:27
URI:	http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/6531

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