scholarly journals The Effect of Self Help Groups on Access to Maternal Health Services: Evidence from Rural India

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Somen Saha ◽  
Peter Annear ◽  
Swati Pathak
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Health ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Maternal Health Services ◽  
Rural India ◽  
Self Help ◽  
Self Help Groups

scholarly journals The role of women self-help groups in reproductive health: an operational research

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 333
Author(s):  
Vaishnavi Devi Moola Amarnath ◽  
Anitha Rani Jeyaraju ◽  
Ramesh Harihara Iyer ◽  
Ramesh Harihara Iyer
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Health ◽  
Reproductive Health ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Family Welfare ◽  
Reproductive Health Services ◽  
Total Study Population ◽  
Self Help ◽  
Role Of Women ◽  
Self Help Groups

Background: In India, women in the reproductive age group (15-44 years) comprise 53% of women population (according to 2011 census). In spite of continuous evolution to improve reproductive health services in India, there is insufficient progress in decline of maternal mortality rate at 2 percent per annuum. One of the innovative strategies identified in reproductive and child health (RCH) II program and UN millennium declaration was establishment of women self-help groups (SHG’s) particularly in rural regions with high levels of poverty. So this study is aimed to assess the current role of women SHG’s in, maternal health, Family welfare and associated maternity benefit schemes. And also, to find out the constraints in involvement of women SHG’s and to assess the feasibility of enhancing their role in reproductive health services.Methods: It is a population based cross sectional study carried out at Nemam sub centre area of Nemam primary health care centre under Thiruvallur housing and urban development. Women who have been a SHG member for more than 6 months were assessed quantitatively and qualitatively after obtaining informed consent which was approved by institutional ethics committee. Data was compiled and analyzed using SPSS 15.0. Qualitative data was analyzed using coding techniques.Results: A total of 56 self-help groups from 10 villages resulted in a total study population of 392 individuals. Before identifying their role, their awareness was also evaluated. Ninety percent of the SHG women were aware of most of the components of maternal health services. But the role was good among 58% of the SHG women. This study brings forth the gap in knowledge and their role which is because they were not confident of their knowledge.Conclusions: In a developing country like India, involving the well organized and available grass root volunteers like women SHG’s in reproductive health services will have a great bearing on the maternal health and consequently on health of children and community at large.

Child and Maternal Health Services in Rural India, The Narangwal Experiment, Volume 2: Integrated Family Planning and Health Care

1986 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 115
Author(s):  
Carl E. Taylor ◽  
R. S. S. Sarma ◽  
Robert L. Parker ◽  
William A. Reinke ◽  
Rashid Faruqee
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Family Planning ◽  
Maternal Health ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Maternal Health Services ◽  
Rural India ◽  
Child And Maternal Health

scholarly journals Improving maternal health services through social accountability interventions in Nepal: an analytical review of existing literature

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adweeti Nepal ◽  
Santa Kumar Dangol ◽  
Anke van der Kwaak
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Health ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Health System ◽  
Maternal Health Services ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Social Accountability ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background The persistent quality gap in maternal health services in Nepal has resulted in poor maternal health outcomes. Accordingly, the Government of Nepal (GoN) has placed emphasis on responsive and accountable maternal health services and initiated social accountability interventions as a strategical approach simultaneously. This review critically explores the social accountability interventions in maternal health services in Nepal and its outcomes by analyzing existing evidence to contribute to the informed policy formulation process. Methods A literature review and desk study undertaken between December 2018 and May 2019. An adapted framework of social accountability by Lodenstein et al. was used for critical analysis of the existing literature between January 2000 and May 2019 from Nepal and other low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) that have similar operational context to Nepal. The literature was searched and extracted from database such as PubMed and ScienceDirect, and web search engines such as Google Scholar using defined keywords. Results The study found various social accountability interventions that have been initiated by GoN and external development partners in maternal health services in Nepal. Evidence from Nepal and other LMICs showed that the social accountability interventions improved the quality of maternal health services by improving health system responsiveness, enhancing community ownership, addressing inequalities and enabling the community to influence the policy decision-making process. Strong gender norms, caste-hierarchy system, socio-political and economic context and weak enforceability mechanism in the health system are found to be the major contextual factors influencing community engagement in social accountability interventions in Nepal. Conclusions Social accountability interventions have potential to improve the quality of maternal health services in Nepal. The critical factor for successful outcomes in maternal health services is quality implementation of interventions. Similarly, continuous effort is needed from policymakers to strengthen monitoring and regulatory mechanism of the health system and decentralization process, to improve access to the information and to establish proper complaints and feedback system from the community to ensure the effectiveness and sustainability of the interventions. Furthermore, more study needs to be conducted to evaluate the impact of the existing social accountability interventions in improving maternal health services in Nepal.

Maternal health services in China’s western rural areas: uptake and correlates

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chengfang Liu ◽  
Linxiu Zhang ◽  
Yaojiang Shi ◽  
Huan ZHOU ◽  
Alexis Medina ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Maternal Health ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
Uptake Rate ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Maternal Health Services ◽  
Western China ◽  
Public Health Systems

Purpose Many public health systems have struggled with the dual questions of (1) why the uptake rate of maternal health services is low among some subpopulations; and (2) how to raise it. The objective of this study is to assess the uptake rate of a new set of maternal health services in poor rural areas of China. Design/methodology/approach The analysis is based on the survey responses of women’s representatives and village cadres from almost 1000 villages in June 2012 as part of a wide-scale public health survey in Sichuan, Gansu and Yunnan provinces in the western part of China. Findings We find that the uptake rate of maternal health services (including in-hospital delivery, antenatal care visits and post-partum care visits) in poor rural areas of western China are far below average in China, and that the rates vary across provinces and ethnic groups. Our analyses demonstrate that distance, income, ethnicity and availability appear to be systematically correlated with low uptake rates of all maternal health services. Demand-side factors seem to be by far the most important sources of the differences between subpopulations. We also find that there is potential for creating a Conditional Cash Transfer program to improve the usage of maternal health services. Originality/value We believe that our results will contribute positively to the exploration of answers to the dual questions that many public health systems have struggled with (1) why the uptake rate of maternal health services is low among some subpopulations; and (2) how to raise it.

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