Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T19:16:12.424Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Does the preference for location of childbirth change for successive births? Evidence from the states and regions of India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

Bidyadhar Dehury Open the ORCID record for Bidyadhar Dehury [Opens in a new window]  and
Mithlesh Chourase
Bidyadhar Dehury*
Affiliation:
India Health Action Trust, Lucknow, India
Mithlesh Chourase
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health & Mortality Studies, International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, India
*
*Corresponding author. Email: bidyadehury@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Universal health coverage is central to the development agenda to achieve maternal and neonatal health goals. Although there is evidence of a growing preference for institutional births in India, it is important to understand the pattern of switching location of childbirth and the factors associated with it. This study used data from the fourth round of the National Family and Health Survey (NFHS-4) conducted in India in 2015–16. The study sample comprised 59,629 women who had had at least two births in the five years preceding the survey. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were applied to the data. About 16.4% of the women switched their location of childbirth between successive births; 9.1% switched to a health facility contributing to a net increment of 1.9% in institutional delivery, varying greatly across states and regions. There was at least a 4 percentage point net increment in institutional births in Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Punjab and Haryana, but the shift was more in favour of home births in Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal. Women with high parity and a large birth interval had higher odds of switching their place of childbirth, and this was in favour of a health facility, while women with higher education, from lower social groups, living in urban areas, who had not received four antenatal care visits, and who belonged to a higher wealth quintile had higher odds of switching their place of childbirth to a health facility, despite having lower odds of switching their childbirth location. The study provides evidence of women in India switching their location of childbirth for successive births, and this was more prevalent in areas where the rate of institutional delivery was low. Only a few states showed a higher net increment in favour of a health facility. This suggests that there is a need for action in specific states and regions of India to achieve universal health coverage.

Keywords

Successive birthsSwitching location of childbirthInstitutional delivery
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 53 , Issue 2 , March 2021 , pp. 266 - 289
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ameh, C, Msuya, S, Hofman, J, Raven, J, Mathai, M and Broek, NVD (2012) Status of emergency obstetric care in six developing countries five years before the MDG targets for maternal and newborn health. PLoS One 7(12), e49938.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Berer, M (2007) Maternal mortality and morbidity: is pregnancy getting safer for women? Reproductive Health Matters 15(30), 6–16.Google ScholarPubMed
Bhattacharyya, S, Srivastava, A, Roy, R and Avan, BI (2016) Factors influencing womenʼs preference for health facility deliveries in Jharkhand state, India: a cross sectional analysis. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 16(50), doi: 10.1186/s12884-016-0839-6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bora, JK and Saikia, N (2018) Neonatal and under-five mortality rate in Indian districts with reference to Sustainable Development Goal 3: an analysis of the National Family Health Survey of India (NFHS), 2015–2016. PLoS One 13(7), e0201125.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Das, S, Alcock, G, Azad, K, Kuddus, A, Manandhar, DS, Shrestha, BP et al. (2016) Institutional delivery in public and private sectors in South Asia: a comparative analysis of prospective data from four demographic surveillance sites. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 16(273), 1–12.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dehury, B (2015) Availability and accessibility of maternal and child health services in Odisha. In Dash, LN (ed.) Health, Gender and Development. Regal Publications, New Delhi, pp. 100–117.Google Scholar
Dixit, P and Dwivedi, LK (2016) Utilization of institutional delivery services across successive births in India. International Journal of Population Studies 2(2), 123–138.Google Scholar
IIPS and ICF (2017) National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4), 2015–16. International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, India.Google Scholar
Jat, TR, Ng, N and San Sebastion, MS (2011) Factors affecting the use of maternal health services in Madhya Pradesh state of India: a multilevel analysis. International Journal for Equity in Health 10(59), doi: 10.1186/1475-9276-10-59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joe, W, Perkins, JM, Kumar, S, Rajpal, S and Subramanian, SV (2018) Institutional delivery in India, 2004–14: unravelling the equity-enhancing contributions of the public sector. Health Policy and Planning 33, 645–653.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johnson, FA, Padmadas, SS and Matthews, Z (2013) Are women deciding against home births in low and middle income countries? PLoS One 8(6), e65527.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kesterton, AJ, Cleland, J, Sloggett, A and Ronsmans, C (2010) Institutional delivery in rural India: the relative importance of accessibility and economic status. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 10(30), doi: 10.1186/1471-2393-10-30.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lim, SS, Dandona, L, Hoisington, JA, James, SL, Hogan, MC and Gakidou, E (2010) Indiaʼs Janani Suraksha Yojana, a conditional cash transfer programme to increase births in health facilities: an impact evaluation. The Lancet 375(9730), 2009–2023.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mekonnen, Y (2003) Patterns of maternity care service utilization in Southern Ethiopia: evidence from a community and family survey. Ethiopean Journal of Health Development 17(1), 27–33.Google Scholar
Nair, M, Ariana, P and Webster, P (2012) What influences the decision to undergo institutional delivery by skilled birth attendants? A cohort study in rural Andhra Pradesh, India. Rural and Remote Health 12(2311), 1–11.Google ScholarPubMed
Navaneetham, K and Dharmalingam, A (2002) Utilization of maternal health care services in southern India. Social Science & Medicine 55(10), 1849–1869.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner (2013) Compendium of Indiaʼs fertility and Mortality Indicators 1971–2013 Based on the Sample Registration System. Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, New Delhi.Google Scholar
Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner (2017) Sample Registration System Statistical Report 2017. Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, New Delhi.Google Scholar
Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner (2019) Special Bulletin on Maternal Mortality in India 2015–17. Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, New Delhi.Google Scholar
Randive, B, Diwan, V and Costa, AD (2013) Indiaʼs conditional cash transfer programme (the JSY) to promote institutional birth: is there an association between institutional birth proportion and maternal mortality? PLoS One 8(6), e67452.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Singh, PK, Rai, RK, Alagrajan, M and Singh, L (2012) Determinants of maternity care services among married adolescents in rural India. PloS One 7(2), e31666.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tegegne, TK, Chojenta, C, Loxton, D, Smith, R and Kibret, KT (2018) The impact of geographical access on institutional delivery care use in low and middle-income countries: systematic review and meta-analysis. Plos One 13(8), e0203130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Varma, DS, Khan, ME and Hazra, A (2010) Increasing institutional delivery and acess to emergency obstetric care services in rural Uttar Pradesh. Journal of Family Welfare 56(Special Issue), 23–30.Google Scholar
Vidler, M, Ramadurg, U, Charantimath, U, Katageri, G, Karadiguddi, C, Sawchuck, D et al. (2016) Utilization of maternal health care services and determinants in Karnatka State, India. Reproductive Health 13(Supplement 1) (37), 55–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar