title: Delivering at the right price--the costs of primary maternity care at the Diepkloof Community Health Centre, Soweto.
abstract: This paper reports on a study of the costs of primary maternity care services at the Diepkloof Community Health Centre (DK) in Soweto. DK, the Soweto community health centre system as a whole and numerous other non-hospital settings provide a wide range of maternal health services to substantial numbers of women, and relieve hospitals of a major potential clinical burden. However, no research has been done in South Africa on the relative costs of the provision of these services in different settings and by different types of health worker. The cost structure of these services at DK is presented and the costs of antenatal care, deliveries in midwife-run labour wards, postnatal care (at the health centre and at home) and family planning services detailed. Some comparisons are made with existing data for another community health centre and with Baragwanath Hospital. These results are relevant to policy and planning of maternal health services. They are also shown to be of relevance to management and several areas of potential improvement of these services are noted.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Broomberg
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rees
mesh_terms: D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008427:Maternal Health Services / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011247:Pregnancy; D013019:South Africa