Quality of Childbirth Care in Mozambique

This study will use microdata from the 2022-23 Mozambique Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) to evaluate the quality of childbirth and immediate post-delivery care among women aged 15-49 who had a live birth in the five years preceding the survey. Quality of childbirth care will be measured using DHS-available indicator, including place of delivery, assistance by a skilled birth attendant, mode of delivery, timing of the first antenatal visit, number of antenatal care visits, early initiation of breastfeeding, immediate skin-to-skin contact, and postnatal check for the mother and newborn within 48 hours after birth. A composite quality-of-care index will be constructed to summarize the receipt of essential intrapartum and early postnatal services. Descriptive analyses will estimate national and regional coverage of these indicators, while bivariate analyses will assess inequalities by maternal education, household wealth, urban-rural residence, parity, and age. Multivariable logistic regression models will then be applied to identify socioeconomic and health-service factors associated with higher quality of childbirth care. The analysis will provide evidence on gaps and inequities in the delivery of essential childbirth services in Mozambique to support policy and programmatic improvements in maternal and newborn health.