Abstract
BackgroundThere has been a substantial improvement in reducing maternal mortality in the Sub-Saharan African region. The vast rural-urban gap in maternal health outcomes, however, is obscured by this average achievement. This study attempts to measure the contribution of identified risk factors to describe the average rural-urban difference in the use of antenatal care, health facilities for delivery, and health professional assistance at delivery.MethodTo achieve this objective, we used descriptive analysis and Fairlie non-linear decomposition method to quantify covariates’ contribution in explaining the urban–rural difference in maternal healthcare services utilisation.ResultThe study’s finding shows much difference between urban and rural areas in the use of maternal healthcare services. Socio-economic factors such as household wealth index, exposure to media, and educational level of women and their husbands/partners contributed the most in explaining the gap between urban and rural areas in healthcare services utilisation.ConclusionsInterventions to bridge the gap between urban and rural areas in maternal healthcare services utilisation in Sub-Saharan Africa should be centred towards socio-economic empowerment. Government can enforce targeted awareness campaigns to encourage women in rural communities in Sub-Sharan Africa to take the opportunity and use the available maternal health care services to be at par with their counterparts in urban areas.
Highlights
Maternal and child health care are among the Sustainable development Goals [1]
The increased rates of maternal and neonatal mortality in the Sub-Saharan African region are primarily due to the inadequate health care facilities and accessibility of the health care service or even the lack of utilisation of available health facilities for delivery by pregnant women for reasons such as religious beliefs, cultural customs or lack of funds to access the health care services [4]
Data source This study’s data are data collected from Demographic and Health surveys (DHS) in 27 Sub-Saharan African countries
Summary
Maternal and child health care are among the Sustainable development Goals [1]. Countries are making efforts to achieve this target by creating policies to reduce deaths due to pregnancy complications and childbirth complications. Maternal health care utilisation remains the priority in decreasing the risk of diseases, haemorrhage, and death from pregnancy and childbirth complications [5]. This study attempts to measure the contribution of identified risk factors to describe the average rural-urban difference in the use of antenatal care, health facilities for delivery, and health professional assistance at delivery. Conclusions: Interventions to bridge the gap between urban and rural areas in maternal healthcare services utilisation in Sub-Saharan Africa should be centred towards socio-economic empowerment. Government can enforce targeted awareness campaigns to encourage women in rural communities in Sub-Sharan Africa to take the opportunity and use the available maternal health care services to be at par with their counterparts in urban areas
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