Maternal Health Care Services Access Index and infant survival in Nigeria

Ayo S. Adebowale, University of Ibadan
Eric O. Udjo, University of South Africa

Infant Mortality (IM) rate in Nigeria is among the highest world-wide. This study examines the relationship between IM and Maternal Health Care Services Access Index (MHCI) in Nigeria. We utilized 2013-NDHS dataset and focused on women aged 15-49 years (n=12511). MHCI was obtained from information on antenatal visit, antenatal attendance, tetanus-toxoid injection during pregnancy, place of delivery, and birth attendance. Cox-proportional hazard and Brass 2-parameter models were used for the analysis (a=0.05). IM was least experienced among women who have complete MHCI. Hazard of experienced IM was 1.497 and 1.466 significantly higher among women with no and low MHCI respectively than those with complete MHCI. This pattern was observed when other factors were used as control. The refined IM probability (range=0.0482-0.1102) and IM rates (range=50-119) increased with reduction in the level of MHCI. If women optimize the use of health facility during pregnancy and delivery, IM will reduce in Nigeria.