Evaluation of Strategies and Outcomes in Maternal and Child Health

Abstract

Maternal and child mortality, particularly during the neonatal period, are among the most challenging global health issues of this era. This burden disproportionately affects the poorest populations, across and within countries. And although many of these deaths would be avertable, improvements in most countries have been slow. This dissertation explores three main research questions: (1) what is the effect of maternal health on infant outcomes?; (2) what survival gains could be attained through improved interventions, across the continuum of care?; and (3) how do health system characteristics affect the potential impact and cost-effectiveness of such interventions? The first paper uses decision modeling to evaluate how increased use of family planning and of improved intrapartum care could reduce maternal deaths in Nepal—as well as the cost-effectiveness of doing so, and of accompanying interventions to achieve these targets. The second paper estimates the potential impact of administering interventions from the Safe Childbirth Checklist at health facilities in India, and how “real world” implementation might see different results due to health system characteristics. Lastly, the third paper examines child survival outcomes following a maternal death in Ethiopia, using a long-term household-level longitudinal dataset. Together, these papers aim to provide new insights on approaches to reducing the high level of mortality among women and children.