Bangladesh 2014

Figure 9.4 Trend in facility births, 2004-2014
Percent of
deliveries in the
past 3 years
37
29
17
12
2004 BDHS 2007 BDHS 2011 BDHS 2014 BDHS
Bangladesh has been making progress in reducing the gap between the poorest and the richest
women in the use of facilities for delivery. In the 2014 BDHS, 15 percent of births to women in the lowest
wealth quintile were delivered in a health facility compared with 70 percent of births in the highest wealth
quintile (Figure 9.5). This translates to a ratio of about 1 to 5. In the effort to achieve equity in delivery in a
health facility, the HPNSDP sets a ratio of less than 1 to 4 between women in the lowest and the highest
quintiles (MOHFW 2011). The corresponding ratios in the 2007 BDHS and 2011 BDHS among births in the
three years before the survey are 1 to 8 and 1 to 6, respectively.
Figure 9.5 Health facility delivery by wealth quintile, 2011 and 2014
Percent of
deliveries in the
past 3 years
70
60
39
34
46
10
18
24
15
24
9.2.2 Caesarean Section
2011 BDHS 2014 BDHS
Lowest Second Middle Fourth Highest
Table 9.5 also shows the percentage of live births delivered by Caesarean section during the three
years preceding the survey. The percentage of C-section births is sometimes considered to be a proxy
indicator of women’s access to skilled care for complicated deliveries. In 2014, 23 percent of live births in
120 • Maternal and Newborn Health