Enhancing Maternal and Infant Healthcare in Remote Villages: Experimental Evidence on the Efficacy of Demandand Supply-Side Subsidies

Abstract

This paper investigates the effects of releasing remoteness constraints on the accessibility and quality of maternal and infant healthcare. Through a field experiment, we provided complementary demand- and supply-side subsidies to improve healthcare for impoverished pregnant women residing in remote Nicaraguan communities. The subsidies increased the utilization of antenatal care by skilled providers, the quality of care received, institutional delivery, and postnatal care utilization, along with the quality of postnatal care received by mothers. Neonatal and infant mortality and fertility decreased in treated communities five years after the intervention was started.