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Does antenatal care matter in the use of skilled birth attendance in rural Africa: A multi-country analysis

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  • Adjiwanou, Vissého
  • LeGrand, Thomas

Abstract

While the importance of antenatal care for maternal and child health continues to be debated, several researchers have documented its impact on intermediate variables affecting survival such as birth weight. These studies have also highlighted the problems of causality that are typically not taken into account when estimating the effects of antenatal care on skilled birth attendance. In this study, we revisit this relation in the rural areas of four countries: Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Using a structural equation modeling approach that corrects for endogeneity, in all four countries we find that the usual simpler probit (or logit) models tend to underestimate the direct effect of antenatal care on skilled birth attendance. Furthermore, in two of the countries, this estimated effect is mediated by the range of services offered to women during antenatal care. These results suggest that governments and NGOs should place more importance on the role of antenatal care providers and on the services they offer, in efforts to promote skilled birth attendance.

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  • Adjiwanou, Vissého & LeGrand, Thomas, 2013. "Does antenatal care matter in the use of skilled birth attendance in rural Africa: A multi-country analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 26-34.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:86:y:2013:i:c:p:26-34
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.02.047
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    2. Mamadou Saliou Balde, 2020. "Soins prénatals et accouchement assisté en Guinée," Working Papers hal-02568708, HAL.
    3. Sanni Yaya & Ghose Bishwajit & Michael Ekholuenetale & Vaibhav Shah & Bernard Kadio & Ogochukwu Udenigwe, 2017. "Timing and adequate attendance of antenatal care visits among women in Ethiopia," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(9), pages 1-16, September.
    4. Vissého Adjiwanou & Germain Adebiyi Boco & Sanni Yaya, 2021. "Stepfather families and children's schooling in sub-Saharan Africa: A cross-national study," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 44(27), pages 627-670.
    5. Monica Lambon-Quayefio & Nkechi Owoo, 2014. "Examining the Influence of Antenatal Care Visits and Skilled Delivery on Neonatal Deaths in Ghana," Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Springer, vol. 12(5), pages 511-522, October.
    6. Joshua Amo-Adjei & Kofi Aduo-Adjei & Christiana Opoku-Nyamah & Chimaroake Izugbara, 2018. "Analysis of socioeconomic differences in the quality of antenatal services in low and middle-income countries (LMICs)," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(2), pages 1-12, February.
    7. Derek Asuman & Ama Pokuaa Fenny & Doreen Nyarko Anyamesem Odame, 2021. "Trends and antecedents of inequalities in maternal healthcare coverage in four African countries," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(3), pages 515-544, April.
    8. Lestine Bitakwitse Atusiimire & Peter Waiswa & Lynn Atuyambe & Victoria Nankabirwa & Monica Okuga, 2019. "Determinants of facility based–deliveries among urban slum dwellers of Kampala, Uganda," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(4), pages 1-11, April.
    9. Habibov, Nazim & Cheung, Alex & Auchynnikava, Alena, 2017. "Does social trust increase willingness to pay taxes to improve public healthcare? Cross-sectional cross-country instrumental variable analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 25-34.
    10. Finnegan, Amy, 2020. "Effects of a sister's death in childbirth on reproductive behaviors: Difference-in-difference analyses using sisterhood mortality data from Indonesia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 250(C).
    11. Luginaah, Isaac N. & Kangmennaang, Joseph & Fallah, Mosoka & Dahn, Bernice & Kateh, Francis & Nyenswah, Tolbert, 2016. "Timing and utilization of antenatal care services in Liberia: Understanding the pre-Ebola epidemic context," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 75-86.
    12. Barman, Bikash & Saha, Jay & Chouhan, Pradip, 2020. "Impact of education on the utilization of maternal health care services: An investigation from National Family Health Survey (2015–16) in India," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
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