Barriers to Emergency Obstetric Services in Rural Uttar Pradesh, India: Some Facts and Myths

About 80 percent of maternal deaths result from obstetric complications and a majority of these deaths can be prevented with timely medical treatment. The objective of this paper is to explore the barriers in receiving timely appropriate care for obstetric complications in rural Uttar Pradesh. World-wide one of the highest number of maternal deaths occurs in rural Uttar Pradesh. For this study the data from the latest RCH-DLHS-3 (2007-2008) and primary survey conducted during 2007-2009 has been used. Univariate, bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis has been conducted to examine the effect of demographic, socio-economic, health status, health-seeking behaviour and community variables on the obstacles in receiving health treatment for obstetric complications. This study answers several questions which are vital for improving maternal health such as, is economic development essential for reducing number of maternal deaths?; distance vs. road connectivity to health facilities; quality of care (QOC) vs. location of health facility; Does ANC improve treatment seeking behavior for obstetric complications? Based on the findings of the study potential areas for policy and research aimed at improving maternal health have also been discussed.