Utilization of maternal care services in rural Philippines

Thankam S. Sunil, University of Texas at San Antonio
Lisa K. Zottarelli, Texas Woman's University

According to the National Demographic Health Survey in The Philippines, conducted during 2003, only 20 percent of mothers received all the recommended types of antenatal care, 34 percent of births were delivered in a medical institution, 38 percent of deliveries were assisted by a medical doctor and 61 percent of the births were taken place at homes. Wide differentials are also observed between rural and urban areas. The recommended minimum of four antenatal care follow-up visits were received by 78 percent of births to mothers living in urban areas, but for only 62 percent of births to mothers living in rural areas. Similarly, 55 percent of deliveries in urban areas, only 23 percent of deliveries in rural areas, took place in health care facilities. These measures indicate that the utilization of various maternal care services are not encouraging, particularly in the rural areas. In the present analysis, using a theoretical framework developed by Andersen and Newman (1973), we incorporated both individual and program characteristics in addressing the utilization of maternal care services in rural areas of The Philippines. To capture the complexity of the various aspects of maternal care utilization we construct a composite index based on the various components of the maternal care services. The analysis based on such an index may provide a better picture of the utilization of maternal care services.