title: Direct cost of maternity-care services in South Delhi: a community survey.
abstract: The study was conducted to estimate the direct maternity-care expense for women who recently delivered in South Delhi and to explore its sociodemographic associations. A survey was conducted using the two-stage cluster-randomized sampling technique. Two colonies each from high-, middle- and low-income areas were selected by simple random sampling, followed by a house-to-house survey in each selected colony. Information was collected by recall of healthcare expenses for mother and child. In total, 249 subjects (of 282 eligible) were recruited. The mean expense for a normal vaginal delivery (n=182) was US$ 370.7, being much higher in a private hospital (US$ 1,035) compared to a government hospital (US$ 61.1) or a delivery in the home (US$ 55.3). Expenses for a caesarean delivery (n=67) were higher (US$ 1,331.1). Expenses for the lowest-income groups were approximately 10% of their annual family income at government facilities and approximately 26% at private hospitals. The direct maternity expense is high for large subsections of the population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science and Research, B-16, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi 110 016, India.
authors.forename: Rinku Sen Gupta
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Dhar
authors.forename: Jitender
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nagpal
authors.forename: Swati
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sinha
authors.forename: V L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Bhargava
authors.forename: Aarti
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sachdeva
authors.forename: Abhishek
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bhartia
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002585:Cesarean Section / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006700:Home Childbirth / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016304:Hospitals, Private / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006779:Hospitals, Public / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008427:Maternal Health Services / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011247:Pregnancy; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors