Child Poverty in Mozambique. A Situation and Trend ... - Unicef

The coverage of antenatal care has improved significantly in recent years, with
the proportion of women attended at least once by skilled health personnel during
pregnancy increasing from 71 per cent in 1997 to 85 per cent in 2003. As a result of
increased coverage of health services, most gains in antenatal care were recorded in
rural areas, where antenatal care increased from 65 per cent in 1997 to 79 per cent in
2003. Antenatal care in urban areas remained almost universal, with a slight increase
from 96 per cent in 1997 to 97 per cent in 2003. The vast majority of ante-natal care
is provided by nurses and midwives, with doctors accounting for only 2 per cent of
antenatal care provided (6.2 per cent in urban areas and 0.6 per cent in rural areas).
With the exception of Zambezia province, where antenatal care was only 58 per cent,
all provinces in which antenatal care was less than 80 per cent in 1997 succeeded
in reaching rates over 80 per cent in 2003, with some remarkable results achieved
in Sofala province, where antenatal care improved from 46 per cent to 82 per cent.
Antenatal care varies according to the socio-economic status of women, from 67 per
cent among the poorest women to 98 per cent among the best-off women.
Figure 3.4: Women attended at least once by a skilled health personnel during
pregnancy: comparison between 1997 and 2003
%
100
80
91
82
86 86
84
78
89 90
76
97
93
93 91
100 100
99
93
60
58
68
69
40
48
46
20
0
Zambezia Niassa Sofala Nampula Tete Cabo
Delgado
Manica Inhambane Gaza Maputo Maputo
City
1997 2003
Source: DHS 2003
The number of antenatal consultations increased between 1997 and 2003, as shown
by the decline in the proportion of women that were never attended during pregnancy
(from 27 per cent to 15 per cent) and the increase in the proportion of women
attended four times or more during pregnancy, from 37 per cent in 1997 to 53 per
cent in 2003. However, only 18 per cent of women received their first consultation
before the fourth month of their pregnancy. The majority of initial consultations
occurred during the fourth or fifth months of pregnancy (44 per cent), while 22 per
cent of first consultations occurred during the sixth or seventh month of pregnancy.
CHILDHOOD POVERTY IN MOZAMBIQUE: A SITUATION AND TRENDS ANALYSIS
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