ArticleBMJ open2023
Quality of maternal healthcare and travel time influence birthing service utilisation in Ghanaian health facilities: a geographical analysis of routine health data.
Article in BMJ open, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed.
- Determinants of maternal transportation mode and travel time for timely emergency obstetric care in selected public hospitals, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2025.AJOG global reports · 2026Article
- Association between out-of-pocket health expenditures and low birth weight in Eastern Ethiopia: a generalized structural equation modeling (GSEM).BMC public health · 2025Article
- Spatio-temporal patterns of health service delivery and access to maternal, child, and outpatient healthcare in Volta region, Ghana: a repeated cross-sectional ecological study using health facility data.Global health action · 2025Article
- Seeing the unseen: The low treatment rate of eye emergencies in Africa.World journal of methodology · 2025Article
- Beyond proximity: an observational study of stillbirth rates and emergency obstetric and newborn care accessibility in The Gambia.BMJ global health · 2025Observational
- Beyond physical accessibility, bypassing health facilities offering caesarean section: insights from women in Dakar's slums.BMJ open · 2025Article
- "Where and Whom You Collect Weightings from Matters…" Capturing Wellbeing Priorities Within a Vulnerable Context: A Case Study of Volta Delta, Ghana.Social indicators research · 2025Article
- Women's health facility choices for antenatal, delivery, and postnatal care in Eastern Visayas, Philippines.Frontiers in global women's health · 2025Article
- Spatial Access to Continuous Maternal and Perinatal Health Care Services in Low-Resource Settings: Cross-Sectional Study.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2024Article
- Maternal and child health care access to skilled delivery services among Ghanaian rural mothers.Research in health services & regions · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo investigate how the quality of maternal health services and travel times to health facilities affect birthing service utilisation in Eastern Region, Ghana.
designThe study is a cross-sectional spatial interaction analysis of birth service utilisation patterns. Routine birth data were spatially linked to quality care, service demand and travel time data.
setting131 Health facilities (public, private and faith-based) in 33 districts in Eastern Region, Ghana.
participantsWomen who gave birth in health facilities in the Eastern Region, Ghana in 2017. OUTCOME MEASURES: The count of women giving birth, the quality of birthing care services and the geographic coverage of birthing care services.
resultsAs travel time from women's place of residence to the health facility increased up to two2 hours, the utilisation rate markedly decreased. Higher quality of maternal health services haves a larger, positive effect on utilisation rates than service proximity. The quality of maternal health services was higher in hospitals than in primary care facilities. Most women (88.6%) travelling via mechanised transport were within two2 hours of any birthing service. The majority (56.2%) of women were beyond the two2 -hour threshold of critical comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care (CEmONC) services. Few CEmONC services were in urban centres, disadvantaging rural populations.
conclusionsTo increase birthing service utilisation in Ghana, higher quality health facilities should be located closer to women, particularly in rural areas. Beyond Ghana, routinely collected birth records could be used to understand the interaction of service proximity and quality.
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