Maternal healthcare services use in Mwanza Region, Tanzania: a cross-sectional baseline survey

Abstract

BackgroundImproving maternal health by reducing maternal mortality/morbidity relates to Goal 3 of the Sustainable Development Goals. Achieving this goal is supported by antenatal care (ANC), health facility delivery, and postpartum care. This study aimed to understand levels of use and correlates of uptake of maternal healthcare services among women of reproductive age (15–49 years) in Mwanza Region, Tanzania.MethodsA cross-sectional multi-stage sampling household survey was conducted to obtain data from 1476 households in six districts of Mwanza Region. Data for the 409 women who delivered in the 2 years before the survey were analyzed for three outcomes: four or more ANC visits (ANC4+), health facility delivery, and postpartum visits. Factors associated with the three outcomes were determined using generalized estimating equations to account for clustering at the district level while adjusting for all variables.ResultsOf the 409 eligible women, 58.2% attended ANC4+, 76.8% delivered in a health facility, and 43.5% attended a postpartum clinic. Women from peri-urban, island, and rural regions were less likely to have completed ANC4+ or health facility delivery compared with urban women. Education and early first antenatal visit were associated with ANC4+ and health facility delivery. Mothers from peri-urban areas and those who with health facility delivery were more likely to attend postpartum check-ups.ConclusionUse of ANC services in early pregnancy influences the number of ANC visits, leading to higher uptake of ANC4+ and health facility delivery. Postpartum check-ups for mothers and newborns are associated with health facility delivery. Encouraging early initiation of ANC visits may increase the uptake of maternal healthcare services.

Twelve-year persistence of inequalities in antenatal care utilisation among women in Tanzania: a decomposition analysis of population-based cross-sectional surveys

“…40 41 This finding might be explained by the fact that health-seeking behaviour among women has been associated with the level of education, which has been indicated as the major determinant of maternal health services utilisation in most previous studies. 16 [49][50][51] Also, it has been shown that most households with low socioeconomic status in Tanzania and other SSA countries also have lower educational attainment. 38 Therefore, achieving equalities in ANC utilisation should also target education policies by considering profound improvements for women from poor households.…”

“…8 14 15 The socioeconomic factors such as maternal age, education, residence, wealth and occupation were much discussed as the major influence of ANC utilisation that disproportionally favours wealthier women. [16][17][18] Although little is known about the contributions of these factors to the inequalities in ANC utilisation in Tanzania, they have been well assessed and discussed in other developing countries such as in South Asian countries. [19][20][21] Previous studies in the later region highlight wealthrelated inequalities as the major driver of ANC utilisation in favour of wealthier women.…”

Translation and validation of Training Needs Analysis Questionnaire among reproductive, maternal and newborn health workers in Tanzania

“…Details of the study settings have been reported elsewhere [ 17 ]. Briefly, this study was conducted in Mwanza Region, which is in the northern part of Tanzania bordering Lake Victoria.…”

Quality Improvement Project to Increase Postpartum Clinic Visits for Publicly Insured Women

“…Many demographic factors have been positively associated with attending postpartum visits, including higher socioeconomic status (Upadhyai & Gupta, 2019), higher educational status of mothers or their partners (Kifle et al, 2017;Sakeah et al, 2018;Upadhyai & Gupta, 2019), older age (Sakeah et al, 2018), and having a religious affiliation (Kifle et al, 2017). Many health-related factors have also been associated with attending postpartum visits, including a history of attending prenatal care (Sakeah et al, 2018;Upadhyai & Gupta, 2019), giving birth at a health facility (Orwa et al, 2019), having a cesarean birth (Upadhyai & Gupta, 2019), and knowledge of pregnancy complications or perception of a postpartum health problem (Kifle et al, 2017).…”