Maternal Mortality Stubborn in Cambodia: Institutional Quality, Poverty, and Traditional Practice

Bunnak Poch, National Committee for Population and Development, Cambodia
Patrick Heuveline, University of California, Los Angeles

Despite the government’s efforts over the past 10 years, maternal mortality in Cambodia has not declined. This stagnation is all the more vexing that access to health care services has increased markedly over time. This study aims to analyze the local variation in maternal mortality, health services quality and local characteristics in 2008 at the commune level. Specifically, we examine whether better quality of health facilities, easier access to health facilities, higher level of health services utilization, lower level of poverty, and lesser reliance on traditional practices of birth delivery contribute to lower level of maternal mortality in a commune. Mapping maternal mortality for visual links between mortality and access to health facilities and statistical analysis of institutional quality factors and socio-economic and cultural factors on mortality will be performed using merged data from the 2008 Census, health administrative records, Commune Database, and IDPoor data.