Decomposing the urban–rural inequalities in the utilisation of maternal health care services: evidence from 27 selected countries in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Plain Language summary Maternal health refers to the health of women throughout pregnancy, delivery, and the postnatal period. Each step should be a good experience that ensures mothers, and their infants realize their maximum health and well-being potential. In this study, we used individual, demographic, and socio-economic characteristics to measure the urban–rural discrepancies in maternal health care services in Sub-Saharan Africa. We used Information of 220 164 women of child-bearing age (15–49) gathered from National Demographic Health Surveys from 27 countries in the Sub-Sahara African region. We found 46.1% of women in rural areas had no education, 39.7% of the women in rural areas have husbands/partners with no education, and 60.1% of the women in rural areas are from households with poor wealth indexes. The use of maternal health care services found to be predominant in the urban areas than rural areas, and the measure of this difference can inform policymakers on the level of effort that needed to be put in place to balance the discrepancies and improve maternal health in general.

Keywords

• Antenatal care
• Delivery place
• Fairlie decomposition
• Healthcare Health professionals
• Pregnancy
• Sustainable development goal