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Reaching vulnerable women through maternity waiting homes in Malawi

Thursday, 19th of January 2017

Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 2017 Jan;136(1):91-97. doi: 10.1002/ijgo.12013. Epub 2016 Oct 24.

Reaching vulnerable women through maternity waiting homes in Malawi

Singh K^1,2, Speizer I^1,2, Kim ET^1,2, Lemani C³, Phoya A³.

• ¹Department of Maternal and Child Health, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
• ²Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
• ³Safe Motherhood Initiative, Lilongwe, Malawi.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

To determine whether two maternity waiting homes (MWHs) supported by the Safe Motherhood Initiative are reaching vulnerable women during the early phase of their implementation.

METHODS:

A cross-sectional interview-based study was conducted among women who attended two centers in Malawi with attached MWHs (Area 25 Health Centre, Lilongwe; and Kasungu District Hospital, Kasungu). Between April and June 2015, exit interviews were conducted among MWH users and non-users.

RESULTS:

Compared with non-users, MWH users at Area 25 were significantly more likely to report a prior spontaneous abortion (10/46 [21.7%] vs 5/95 [5.3%]; P=0.006) and to be in the lowest wealth quintile (4/87 [4.6%] vs 0/150; P=0.029). Although not significant, a greater percentage of MWH users at Kasungu District Hospital than non-users had a prior stillbirth (6/84 [7.1%] vs 0/77) or spontaneous abortion (3/84 [3.6%] vs 2/77 [2.6%]), and were in the lowest wealth quintile (15/175 [8.6%] vs 5/141 [3.5%]). MWH users at Kasungu lived further from the hospital than did non-MWH users, although the difference was not significant (mean 6.81±9.1 km vs 4.05±7.42 km; P=0.067).

CONCLUSION:

MWHs offer a promising strategy to reduce maternal mortality in Malawi and other low-income countries.

© 2016 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics.