Abstract
BackgroundNearly half of births in low-income countries occur without a skilled attendant, and even fewer mothers and babies have postnatal contact with providers who can deliver preventive or curative services that save lives. Community-based maternal and newborn care programs with postnatal home visits have been tested in Bangladesh, Malawi, and Nepal. This paper examines coverage and content of home visits in pilot areas and factors associated with receipt of postnatal visits.MethodsUsing data from cross-sectional surveys of women with live births (Bangladesh 398, Malawi: 900, Nepal: 615), generalized linear models were used to assess the strength of association between three factors - receipt of home visits during pregnancy, birth place, birth notification - and receipt of home visits within three days after birth. Meta-analytic techniques were used to generate pooled relative risks for each factor adjusting for other independent variables, maternal age, and education.FindingsThe proportion of mothers and newborns receiving home visits within three days after birth was 57% in Bangladesh, 11% in Malawi, and 50% in Nepal. Mothers and newborns were more likely to receive a postnatal home visit within three days if the mother received at least one home visit during pregnancy (OR2.18, CI1.46–3.25), the birth occurred outside a facility (OR1.48, CI1.28–1.73), and the mother reported a CHW was notified of the birth (OR2.66, CI1.40–5.08). Checking the cord was the most frequently reported action; most mothers reported at least one action for newborns.ConclusionsReaching mothers and babies with home visits during pregnancy and within three days after birth is achievable using existing community health systems if workers are available; linked to communities; and receive training, supplies, and supervision. In all settings, programs must evaluate what community delivery systems can handle and how to best utilize them to improve postnatal care access.
Highlights
Preventing neonatal deaths is critical to reducing global child mortality rates and achieving Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 4
Nearly half of births in lowincome countries occur without a skilled attendant, and even fewer mothers and babies have postnatal contact with providers who can deliver interventions that save lives [5]
Since we examine the association between birth notification and receipt of home visits within 3 days, we classified birth notification as ‘no’ if the mother reported the community health workers (CHWs) was notified more than 3 days after the birth
Summary
Preventing neonatal deaths is critical to reducing global child mortality rates and achieving Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 4. Neonatal mortality declined 32% between 1990 and 2011, it reduced at half the speed of maternal mortality and onethird slower than deaths amongst children aged 1–59 months [1,2]. A landmark 2005 study showed that proven interventions, including preventive and curative services, could avert up to twothirds of newborn deaths [4]. Nearly half of births in lowincome countries occur without a skilled attendant, and even fewer mothers and babies have postnatal contact with providers who can deliver interventions that save lives [5]. Half of births in low-income countries occur without a skilled attendant, and even fewer mothers and babies have postnatal contact with providers who can deliver preventive or curative services that save lives. This paper examines coverage and content of home visits in pilot areas and factors associated with receipt of postnatal visits
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