ArticlePloS one2022
Factors that affect the utilisation of maternal healthcare in the Mchinji District of Malawi.
Article in PloS one, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review on the selection of reference genes for gene expression studies in rodents: are the classics the best choice?Molecular biology reports · 2024Pooled it
- Antenatal Care Service Utilization Among Childbearing Women at El-Digysab Village, El-Jazeera State, Sudan, 2023.Journal of pregnancy · 2026Article
- Socioeconomic and regional disparities in postnatal care utilization in Bangladesh: Evidence from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2022.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Mapping Geographic Disparities in Healthcare Access Barriers Among Married Women in Pakistan: Evidence from a Nationally Representative Survey.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Maternal awareness, attitudes, and practices relating to green spaces and their impact on child health in Sunyani, Ghana.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- Assessment of maternal healthcare services among the women of reproductive age in the rural municipality of Nepal: a cross-sectional study.BMJ public health · 2025Article
- Fatalism or vigilance? Exposure to infant and maternal deaths and subsequent use of maternal health services in Malawi.World development · 2025Article
- Utilization of Antenatal Care and Skilled Birth Delivery Services in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Scoping Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- Continuum of care for maternal and child health and child undernutrition in Angola.BMC public health · 2024Article
- The nexus between poverty and maternal healthcare utilization with a focus on antenatal care visits and choice of place of birth in Somaliland.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Disparities and barriers of health facility delivery following optimal and suboptimal pregnancy care in Nigeria: evidence of home births from cross-sectional surveys.BMC women's health · 2023Article
- Uptake of, barriers and enablers to the utilization of postnatal care services in Thyolo, Malawi.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundIt is widely accepted that maternal healthcare is vital for improving maternal and neonatal mortality rates. Furthermore, the continuum of care-the integrated delivery of antenatal, delivery and postnatal care-has been shown to be particularly important. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest neonatal and maternal mortality rates in the world; significant improvements in the provision and utilisation of the continuum are urgently needed, therefore the barriers preventing access need to be better understood. This study aimed to identify key factors associated with the utilisation of maternal healthcare, in the Mchinji District of Malawi.
methods4,244 pregnant women from the Mchinji District of Malawi were interviewed between March and December 2013. The overall utilisation of maternal healthcare was calculated by combining the use of antenatal, delivery and postnatal care into one variable-continuum of care. Univariate and multivariate logistic regressions were performed to determine the factors associated with utilisation of maternal healthcare.
resultsUtilisation of maternal healthcare in the Mchinji District was inadequate; only 24% of women received the recommended package. Being further from a healthcare facility (OR = 0.2, 95%CI = 0.04-0.96), having at least one live child (OR = 0.87, 95%CI = 0.84-0.99), previous experience of miscarriage (OR = 0.64, 95%CI = 0.50-0.82) or abuse (OR = 0.81, 95%CI = 0.69-0.95) reduced utilisation, whereas being in the richest 20% (OR = 1.33 95%CI = 1.08-1.65), having a planned pregnancy (OR = 1.3, 95%CI = 1.11-1.51) or more control over decisions (OR = 1.09, 95%CI = 0.80-1.49) increased utilisation.
conclusionSeven groups of women were identified as having an increased risk of low utilisation of maternal healthcare; women living >5km from a healthcare facility, within the poorest socio-economic group, experiencing an unplanned pregnancy, with at least one live child, experience of a previous miscarriage, no control over their healthcare decisions or experience of abuse. Policy makers should pay extra attention to these high-risk groups when designing and delivering strategies to improve maternal healthcare utilisation.
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