Service supply environment and maternal health care in Nepal

Sharad Kumar Sharma, Department of Health Services, Family Health Division
Bal Krishna Suvedi, Department of Health Services, Family Health Division

Measure of the availability of maternal health services has received less attention than that of utilization in Nepal. This study examined if health service supply factors are associated with maternal health care. Nepal Demographic and Health Survey, 2006 data was linked with the cluster-level information on the health service supply environment and it's association with the odds of maternal health care using a multi-level logistic regression analysis. Study findings indicated that maternal health care varied across the clusters and a larger proportion of cluster-level variation of maternal health care was explained by service supply factors. Access to health facilities, availability of trained health personnel, and the quality of maternal health services were associated with an increased proportion of maternal health care. Women exposed to the media, having easy access to health facilities and health personnel were also more likely to receive the care.