Does the quality of prenatal care matter in promoting skilled institutional delivery? A study in rural Mexico

Abstract

Objectives: To determine if the quality of prenatal care predicts skilled institutional delivery, a primary means of reducing maternal mortality.

Methods: The probability of skilled institutional delivery is predicted among 4173 rural low-income women of reproductive age in seven Mexican states, as a function of maternal retrospective reports about prenatal care services received in 1997-2003.

Results: Women who received most prenatal care procedures were more likely to have a skilled institutional delivery (OR 2.29, 95% CI 1.18, 4.44). Women who received less than the 75th percentile of prenatal care procedures were not significantly different from those who received no prenatal care.

Conclusions: Policies promoting increased access to prenatal services should be linked to the promotion of practice standards to impact health and behavioral outcomes.