Maternal Healthcare Utilization in Bangladesh

Maternal healthcare utilization is a major determinant of maternal mortality. Bangladesh is experiencing a rapid pace of urbanization with all future growth in population expected to be in urban areas. Health care infrastructure is different in urban and rural areas thus warranting an examination of equity in use rates of maternal healthcare. This paper addresses whether the urban–rural and rich-poor gaps in use of selected maternal healthcare indicators have narrowed or widened over the last decade. The paper also explores changes in the service provider environment in urban and rural domains. The faster pace of improvement in equity in maternal healthcare utilization in urban areas is reflective of the changing service environment in urban and rural areas, among other factors.

Reference:

Kamal, N., Curtis, S., Hasan, M. S., & Jamil, K. (2016). Trends in equity in use of maternal health services in urban and rural Bangladesh. International journal for equity in health, 15(1), 27.

https://equityhealthj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12939-016-0311-2

Photo Reference: Paul Rogers