Quality v. Coverage: Is There a Trade-off in Financing Maternal Health?
March 23, 2021
8:00-9:00 am EDT
With only 10 years to go to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal of reducing preventable maternal and newborn deaths, what are the major changes health systems need to introduce to achieve this goal? Mothers and babies continue to die at high rates in many countries despite substantial increases in facility birth. Improving primary healthcare coverage for women of reproductive age is critical to improve their health.
However, primary care facilities might not be able to offer quality care in cases of complications and complications are often unpredictable. Higher-level facilities are better placed to offer emergency care, but due to being removed from the community, they are harder to access or less desirable if women must leave their families behind for extended periods of time.
This policy forum highlights the key factors that could help countries make decisions to further improve access and quality simultaneously, especially when faced with a resource constraint.