Influence of utilization of maternity waiting homes on the improvement of institutional delivery coverage, in-hospital maternal mortality ratio, and stillbirth rate in Mozambique

Abstract

Many women in low and middle-income countries face the challenges of inaccessibility of obstetric care. Rural women are 3.572 times more likely to die due to complications from pregnancy or delivery than women who came from urban areas. To minimize these problems, developing countries use maternity waiting homes (MWH) as an alternative to increasing the accessibility of obstetric care services. MWH are homes built in the compound or near health facilities. They provide standard medical and emergency obstetric care. This is the easiest way to decrease the complication related to childbirth. Mozambique set up the MWH strategy with the objective of improving the access of women living in remote areas. It is expected that MWHs will increase institutional delivery (ID), and decrease maternal mortality caused by the delay in obtaining obstetric care. The study was carried out to evaluate the influence of the utilization of maternity waiting houses in the improvement of institutional delivery coverage, in-hospital maternal mortality rate, and stillbirth rate in Mozambique. The results of this study revealed that there is a correlation between the utilization of maternity waiting homes and the improvement of institutional delivery coverage, in-hospital maternal mortality ratio, and stillbirth rates in Mozambique. The improvement of institutional delivery coverage, in-hospital maternal mortality ratio, and stillbirth rate was influenced by the utilization of maternity waiting homes in Mozambique. The p-value was less than 0.05.