Assessing the impact of 'Pakistan initiative for mothers and newborns' in comparison to socio-economic determinants of maternal health seeking in Pakistan

Abstract

Efficacy of behavioral interventions to improve maternal health seeking behavior (MHSB) has been increasingly scrutinized, particularly in developing countries like Pakistan. The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact the Pakistan Initiative for Mothers and Newborns (2004-2010) in 22 exposure districts compared to districts with no intervention. The impact of socioeconomic and demographic indicators in comparison to that of the intervention is also discussed in this paper. Data were obtained from the Pakistan Living Standards Measurement Survey 2004-05 and 2012-13.The sample consisted of 54706 women of reproductive age (15-50 years), from 22 intervention districts, and 72 control districts. Five utilization oriented indicators of MHSB were investigated; antenatal visits, tetanus toxoid vaccinations, health facility birth, skilled birth attendance and postnatal care. Using the Difference in Differences technique, binary logistic regression was used to assess the impact of PAIMAN relative to socioeconomic and demographic variables. We find that the PAIMAN intervention had no significant impact on improving likelihood of women seeking maternal health care. With the exception of prenatal care, there were no statistically significant differences in the odds of women utilizing maternal health services in the intervention districts in comparison to the control districts.