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Measuring the Quality of Maternal and Newborn Care in India

Gursimran Singh Rana, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

Objective: To develop a composite index to measure Quality in MNC services and understanding its determinants. Methods: We used data from the National Family Health Survey, 2015-16. The study included women aged 15-49 years who had a live birth in the five years preceding the survey (N=184641). Thirty-four indicators corresponding to MNC services were used to compute an index for Quality in maternal and newborn care (QMNCI) using the PCA method. Mean QMNCI scores were calculated for women belonging to different socio-economic groups. Further, we used proportional odds logistic regression to identify significant relationships of various factors with QMNCI. Results: Variables like BP checked, Urine sample taken, Blood sample taken, Abdomen examined, Weight taken showed the strongest effect on the QMNCI. Low education, less wealth, and high parity were significantly related to low QMNCI scores. Southern women had more likelihood to receive good quality MNC services than Northern women(OR 2.142, p<0.001). Muslim women were more likely to obtain good Quality than Hindu women (OR 0.759, p<0.001). Conclusion: The analysis shows variation in index scores across several known equity markers in India, thus providing essential insights into the current state of Quality of care and the areas to work upon.

Keywords: Demographic and social surveys, Fertility and childbirth, Policy, Health and morbidity

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  Presented in Session 138. Fertility in India: Present and Prospect