COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF MATERNAL MORTALITY RATIO (MMR). A CASE STUDY OF PESHAWAR AND RAWALPINDI

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the effect of various factors (sociocultural, accessibility, and quality of health care services) on the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) in Peshawar and Rawalpindi. This study conducted a comparative analysis between two public hospitals: Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) in Peshawar and Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) in Rawalpindi (commonly known as Rawalpindi General Hospital). The study argued that various factors have an impact on higher MMR. This research adopts an integrated approach of three delay models by Thaddeus and Maine (1994) to identify the elements associated with high MMR and to determine the impact of sociocultural factors on MMR. This research is based on qualitative study and uses both primary and secondary data. Primary data is collected from 60 semi- structured fieldwork interviews, informal conversations, and discussions. While the secondary data is collected from the UN, World Bank reports on MMR, Government of Pakistan Official statistics, journal articles, books, research opinion pieces, etc. The fieldwork participants included doctors, patients, and people from the civic center. Thematic analysis was used as a tool to analyze the data both from fieldwork and secondary sources. The findings suggested that there are multiple factors contributing to higher MMR in both hospitals but in LRH the sociocultural factors are primarily responsible for higher MMR whereas in BBH accessibility and quality of health services are responsible for high MMR. The study concluded that to improve maternal health and reduce MMR, public health policies in Pakistan should focus on all factors affecting maternal health including sociocultural factors that influence maternal health, such as women's empowerment, education, and raising awareness of maternal health issues among couples and society at large.