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Objective: To assess the prevalence of disrespect and abuse during childbirth and its associated factors in Peru.Methods: In an observational cross-sectional study, women were surveyed within 48 hours of live delivery at 14 hospitals located in nine Peruvian cities between April and July 2016. The survey was based on seven categories of disrespect and abuse proposed by Bowser and Hill. To evaluate factors associated with each category, prevalence ratios (PRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using adjusted Poisson models with robust variances.Results: Among 1528 participants, 1488 (97.4%) had experienced at least one category of disrespect and abuse. Frequency of abandonment of care was increased with cesarean delivery (PR 1.27, 95% CI 1.03-1.57) but decreased in the jungle region (PR 0.27, 0.14-0.53). Discrimination was associated with the jungle region (PR 5.67, 2.32-13.88). Physical abuse was less frequent with cesarean than vaginal delivery (PR 0.23, 0.11-0.49). The prevalences of abandonment of care (PR 0.42, 0.29-0.60), non-consented care (PR 0.70, 0.57-0.85), discrimination (PR 0.40, 0.19-0.85), and non-confidential care (PR 0.71, 0.55-0.93) were decreased among women who had been referred.Conclusion: Nearly all participants reported having experienced at least one category of disrespect and abuse during childbirth care, which was associated with type of delivery, being referred, and geographic region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To implement the Safe Abortion Care (SAC) model in public health facilities in the Tigray region of Ethiopia and document the availability, utilization, and quality of SAC services over time.Methods: The project oriented providers in 50 public health facilities in Tigray to the SAC model. Changes in SAC indicators between baseline and endline were assessed using a retrospective review of procedure logbooks at baseline and prospective monitoring of procedure logbooks for facility performance after introduction of the SAC model.Results: Availability of SAC services increased from 39% to 86% of the recommended number of 5 facilities per 500000 population, primarily as a result of functional improvements at health centers. Decentralization was accompanied by a 94% increase in the annualized number of women who received services. The proportion of uterine evacuation procedures for induced abortion rose from 7% to 60% (P<0.01), and the proportion performed with recommended technology increased from 30% to 85% (P<0.01). The proportion of abortion patients who received modern contraception also increased from 31% to 78% (P<0.01).Discussion: While widespread service delivery improvements were recorded using the SAC monitoring approach, the project design was built around existing programmatic activities of the local health authority and reflects some related research limitations. For example, there was no comparison group of facilities, timing did not allow for prospective collection of the baseline data before the intervention, and facilities received different levels of monitoring support.Conclusion: Using the SAC model, public health facilities tracked progress and made needed adjustments, which improved service delivery. Continued focus on critical safe abortion care elements should increase the availability, quality, and use of life-saving care to reduce preventable abortion mortality in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To examine user fees for maternity services and how they relate to provision, quality, and use of maternity services in Ethiopia.Methods: The national assessment of emergency obstetric and newborn care (EmONC) examined user fees for maternity services in 751 health facilities that provided childbirth services in 2008.Results: Overall, only about 6.6% of women gave birth in health facilities. Among facilities that provided delivery care, 68% charged a fee in cash or kind for normal delivery. Health centers should be providing maternity services free of charge (the healthcare financing proclamation), yet 65% still charge for some aspect of care, including drugs and supplies. The average cost for normal and cesarean delivery was US $7.70 and US $51.80, respectively. Nineteen percent of these facilities required payment in advance for treatment of an obstetric emergency. The health facilities that charged user fees had, on average, more delivery beds, deliveries (normal and cesarean), direct obstetric complications treated, and a higher ratio of skilled birth attendants per 1000 deliveries than those that did not charge. The case fatality rate was 3.8% and 7.1% in hospitals that did and did not charge user fees, respectively.Conclusion: Utilization of maternal health services is extremely low in Ethiopia and, although there is a government decree against charging for maternity service, 65% of health centers do charge for some aspects of maternal care. As health facilities are not reimbursed by the government for the costs of maternity services, this loss of revenue may account for the more and better services offered in facilities that continue to charge user fees. User fees are not the only factor that determines utilization in settings where the coverage of maternity services is extremely low. Additional factors include other out-of-pocket payments such as cost of transport and food and lodging for accompanying relatives. It is important to keep quality of care in mind when user fees are under discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Policy, regulation, training, and support for cadres adopting tasks and roles outside their historical domain have lagged behind the practical shift in service-delivery on the ground. The Health Systems Strengthening for Equity (HSSE) project sought to assess the alignment between national policy and regulation, preservice training, district level expectations, and clinical practice of cadres providing some or all components of emergency obstetric care (EmOC) in Malawi and Tanzania.Methods: A mixed methods approach was used, including key informant interviews, a survey of District Health Management Teams, and a survey of health providers employed at a representative sample of health facilities.Results: A lack of alignment between national policy and regulation, training, and clinical practice was observed in both countries, particularly for cadres with less preservice training; a closer alignment was found between district level expectations and reported clinical practice. There is ineffective use of cadres that are trained and authorized to provide EmOC, but who are not delivering care, especially assisted vaginal delivery.Conclusion: Better alignment between policy and practice, and support and training, and more efficient utilization of clinical staff are needed to achieve the quality health care for which the Malawian and Tanzanian health ministries and governments are accountable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To examine the quality of the maternal health system in Eritrea to understand system deficiencies and its relevance to maternal mortality within the context of Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5.Methods: A sample of 118 health facilities was surveyed. Data were collected on 5 dimensions of health system quality: availability; accessibility; management; infrastructure; and process indicators. Data on the causes of hospital admissions for obstetric patients and maternal deaths were extracted from medical records.Results: Eritrea has only 11 comprehensive emergency obstetric care (CEmOC) facilities, all of which are grossly understaffed. There is considerable pressure on the infrastructure and health providers at hospitals. Compliance with clinical care standards and availability of supplies were optimal. As a result, the case fatality rate of 0.65% was low. In total, 45.6% of obstetric admissions and 19.5% of maternal deaths were attributed to abortion complications.Conclusion: In Eritrea, critical gaps in the health system-especially those related to human resources-will impede progress toward MDG 5, and it will not be possible to reduce maternal mortality without addressing the high burden of abortion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess the maternal disease burden due to pre-eclampsia/eclampsia in Ethiopia and the national health system's readiness to respond to the needs of women with pre-eclampsia/eclampsia.Methods: The national emergency obstetric and newborn care (EmONC) assessment entailed collecting information from 112 hospitals and 685 health centers in Ethiopia, focusing on their infrastructure, the services they provided, human resources, equipment and supplies, case load, and mortality due to pre-eclampsia/eclampsia.Results: Pre-eclampsia/eclampsia complicated 1.2% of all institutional deliveries. Given the low institutional delivery rate and an expected incidence of 2%-8% of all deliveries, this implies that only a small fraction (3.8%) of all women with pre-eclampsia/eclampsia received care at health facilities. 11% of all maternal deaths and 16% of direct maternal deaths were due to this obstetric complication. The cause-specific case fatality rate was high (3.6%). Availability of urine test strips, anticonvulsants, antihypertensives, and actual service provision to treat these diseases was limited, especially at health centers.Conclusion: The salutary effects of the national EmONC assessment were immediate, as evidenced by how quickly the release of the Ethiopian report led to important national efforts to improve maternal and newborn health. Expansion of health services should be augmented with periodic assessments of logistics and quality-related issues to assure functioning facilities for women accessing obstetric services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To report on the availability and quality of emergency obstetric and newborn care (EmONC) in Ethiopia.Methods: All licensed hospitals and health centers were visited and standard questionnaires were administered. In addition, a nonrandom systematic sample was taken of recent cesarean deliveries, partographs, and maternal deaths-and these cases were systematically reviewed. Health facilities were geocoded using geographic positioning system devices.Results: Too few facilities provided EmONC to meet the UN standards of 5 per 500,000 population, both nationally and in all but 2 regions. Only 7% of deliveries took place in institutions of any type, and only 3% in facilities that routinely provided all the signal functions. Only 6% of women with obstetric complications were treated in any health facility, half of whom were treated in fully functional EmONC facilities. Nationwide, 0.6% of expected deliveries were by cesarean. The mortality rate for women with serious obstetric complications (case fatality rate) was 2%. The cause of death was unknown in 10% of cases, and 21% were due to indirect causes (primarily malaria, anemia, and HIV-related).Conclusion: None of the indicators met UN standards. Ethiopia faces many challenges--not least geography--with regard to improving EmONC. Nevertheless, the government places high priority on improvement and has taken (and will continue to take) action to achieve Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5. This comprehensive survey serves both as a road map for planning strategies for improvement and as a baseline for measuring the impact of interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To explore maternal healthcare utilization in rural western China, and to analyze the socioeconomic and demographic determinants associated with use of maternal health services.Methods: Between July and August 2005, 14112 women from 45 counties in 10 western provinces of China were enrolled in a cross-sectional study by a multi-stage probability sampling method. The women completed a structured questionnaire, and a 2-level logistic regression model was used to examine the data.Results: The proportion of women who had prenatal care was 95%. The average number of prenatal visits was 4.94. The proportion of women who had more than 4 prenatal visits was 52.9%, and 66.9% of these had their first prenatal visit within 12 weeks of gestation. The hospital delivery rate was 86.3%. The frequency of postnatal visits was 84.8%, and the average number of postnatal visits was 2.19. Han ethnicity, higher education, lower parity, higher wealth index, and lower altitude of county had a higher odds ratio for more than 4 prenatal visits, hospital delivery, and postnatal visits.Conclusion: Maternal healthcare utilization seems to be associated with socio-economic and regional factors. The Chinese government should focus on the supply, funding, and quality of maternity services in rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To calculate the met need for comprehensive emergency obstetric care (CEmOC) in 2 Tanzanian regions (Mwanza and Kigoma) and to document the contribution of non-physician clinicians (assistant medical officers [AMOs]) and medical officers (MOs) with regard to meeting the need for CEmOC.Methods: All hospitals in the 2 regions were visited to determine the proportion of major obstetric interventions performed by AMOs and MOs. All deliveries (n = 38 758) in these hospitals in 2003 were reviewed. The estimated met need for emergency obstetric care (EmOC) was calculated using UN process indicators, as was the contribution to that attainment by AMOs. Hospital case fatality rates were also determined.Results: Estimated met need was 35% in Mwanza and 23% in Kigoma. AMOs operating independently performed most major obstetric surgery. Outside of the single university hospital, AMOs performed 85% of cesareans and high proportions of other obstetric surgeries. The case fatality rate was 2.0% in Mwanza and 1.2% in Kigoma.Conclusion: AMOs carried most of the burden of life-saving EmOC-particularly cesarean deliveries-in the regions investigated. Case fatality was close to the 1% target set by the UN process indicators, but met need was far below the goal of 100%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To conduct a needs assessment for emergency obstetric care (EmOC) to address the unacceptably high maternal and newborn mortality indices in Sierra Leone 8 years after the end of the civil war.Methods: From June to August 2008, a cross-sectional survey was conducted of health facilities in Sierra Leone offering delivery services. Assessment tools were local adaptations of tools developed by the Averting Maternal Death and Disability program at Columbia University, New York, USA.Results: There were enough comprehensive EmOC (CEmOC) facilities in the country but they were poorly distributed. There were no basic EmOC (BEmOC) facilities. Few facilities (37% of hospitals and 2% of health centers) were able to perform assisted vaginal delivery (AVD), and 3 potentially BEmOC facilities did not meet the standard only because they did not perform AVD. Severe shortages in staff, equipment, and supplies, and unsatisfactory supply of utilities severely hampered the delivery of quality EmOC services. Demand for maternity and newborn services was low, which may have been related to the poor quality and the high/unpredictable out-of-pocket cost of such services.Conclusion: Significant increases in the uptake of institutional delivery services, the linkage of remote health workers to the health system, and the recruitment of midwives, in addition to rapid expansion in the training of health workers (including training in midwifery and obstetric surgery skills), are urgently needed to improve the survival of mothers and newborns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine risk factors for perinatal mortality among hospital-based deliveries in Nigeria.Methods: The WHO Global Maternal and Perinatal Health Survey was implemented in Nigeria as a first step in establishing a global system for monitoring maternal and perinatal health. Twenty-one health facilities with more than 1000 deliveries annually were selected by a stratified multistage cluster sampling strategy. Information was recorded on all women who delivered and their neonates within a 3-month period.Results: Overall, there were 9208 deliveries, comprising 8526 live births, 369 fresh stillbirths, 282 macerated stillbirths, 70 early neonatal deaths, and 721 perinatal deaths. The stillbirth and perinatal mortality rates were, respectively, 71 and 78 per 1000 deliveries; the early neonatal death rate was 8 per 1000 live births. Approximately 10% of all newborns weighed less than 2500 g, and 12.3% were born at less than 37 weeks of gestation. Predictors of perinatal mortality were mother's age, lack of prenatal care, unbooked status, prematurity, and birth asphyxia.Conclusion: The perinatal mortality rate remains unacceptably high in Nigeria. Fresh stillbirth accounted for most perinatal deaths. Interventions to improve the utilization and quality of prenatal care, in addition to the quality of intrapartum care, would considerably reduce perinatal death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the availability and quality of emergency obstetric care (EmOC) received by women in a rural Chinese province.Methods: The study was conducted in 7 rural counties and townships in Shanxi Province, China. Data sources included interviews with 7 hospital leaders, 5 maternal and child health workers, and 7 obstetricians; 118 records of complicated delivery were audited, 21 Maternal and Child Health Annual Reports analyzed, and observations conducted of facilities and advanced labor care.Results: The number of comprehensive EmOC facilities was adequate in all counties. Three counties had fewer basic EmOC facilities than recommended and only 4 counties reached the recommended level. Most of the existing township hospitals did not provide birthing services. All the county hospitals could perform cesarean deliveries with rates from 6.8%-40.8%. The management of complications was not evidence-based. For example, women with pre-eclampsia and eclampsia were given too little magnesium sulfate; women were not closely monitored for hemorrhage after birth and the partograph was used incorrectly with consequences for obstructed labor.Conclusion: Basic EmOC facilities are not adequate and township hospitals should be upgraded to provide birthing services. The quality of EmOC is poor and needs improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: WHO, UNICEF, and UNFPA with other development partners have supported African Ministries of Health to institutionalize maternal death review (MDR) since 2003. To evaluate the program, its status, lessons learned, and the challenges to success were reviewed in 2007.Methods: A standard self-administered questionnaire was sent to Ministries of Health in 46 Sub-Saharan African countries in May 2007. Completed questionnaires were returned by e-mail, processed, and analyzed.Results: Thirty countries completed the survey questionnaire. Maternal death is a notifiable condition in 21 (67%) counties. A national committee has been set up to plan, coordinate, and implement MDR activities in 7 countries. Fifteen countries stated that facility-based MDR is the main method selected for conducting reviews of the causes of maternal death. Fourteen (47%) countries reported that national MDR guidelines had been developed and 12 (40%) had implemented the guidelines. Fifteen (50%) countries reported that maternal deaths were reviewed and analyzed. Only 7 countries reported that the government had allocated a budget for MDR. Implementation of MDR has led to local policy changes and improvement in quality of maternal health services in several countries. Ten of the 15 countries in which analysis has been conducted reported that recommendations have been implemented at least at the health facility level.Conclusion: Although use of MDR is increasing in African countries, effective coverage is still low. The institutionalization of MDR requires political commitment, legal and administrative back-up, financial support, capacity development, simplified reporting forms and procedures, coordinated support of development partners, involvement of professional bodies, and regular supportive follow-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the use of beneficial maternal and perinatal healthcare practices in a network of public maternity hospitals in Argentina.Method: A multicenter, prospective, descriptive study of 6661 deliveries in 9 hospitals. The use of 5 obstetric care practices that reduce maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality was evaluated.Results: Median use rates for the selected practices were: continuous support for women during childbirth (17.9%); corticosteroids for preterm birth (35.3%); avoidance of episiotomy in primiparous women (41.2%); iron and folate supplementation (52.5%); active management of third stage of labor (93.5%).Conclusion: There is limited use of the selected evidence-based maternal and perinatal practices in public hospitals in Argentina and a large variation in their use among and within hospitals. Efforts should be made to increase the use of these evidence-based practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The Yemen is a signatory of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and one of 10 countries chosen for the UN Millennium Project. However, recent MDG progress reviews show that it is unlikely that the maternal health goal will be reached by 2015 and Yemen still has an unacceptably high maternal mortality of 365 per 100000 live births. Because 82% of deaths happen intrapartum, the purpose of this needs assessment was to identify and prioritize constraints in delivery of emergency obstetric care (EmOC).Methods: Four district hospitals and 16 health centers in 8 districts were assessed for functional capacity in terms of infrastructure; availability of essential equipment and drugs; EmOC technical competency and training needs; and Health Management Information System.Results: We found poor obstetric services in terms of structure (staffing pattern, equipment, and supplies) and process (knowledge and management skills).Conclusion: The data argue for strengthening the 4 interlinked health system elements-human resources, and access to, use, and quality of services. The Government must address each of these elements to meet the Safe Motherhood MDG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate Sri Lankan maternal deaths due to heart disease and to consider low-cost interventions to reduce these deaths.Methods: A qualitative study based on retrospective audit of all maternal deaths and late maternal deaths in Sri Lanka caused by cardiac disease in 2004.Results: A total of 145 maternal deaths were recorded in 2004, for a maternal mortality rate of 38 per 100,000. There were 42 indirect deaths, 25 of which were due to cardiac disease; 23 deaths had a specific cardiac cause listed. Standard care was identified in prepregnancy counseling, contraception, and prenatal community and specialist care.Conclusion: Cardiac disease is a major cause of maternal mortality in Sri Lanka, second only to postpartum hemorrhage. Rheumatic mitral valve disease is responsible for more than a third of maternal deaths from cardiac disease. Substandard care was identified in all cases; strategies to improve care could allow a reduction in maternal cardiac deaths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess the effects of a comprehensive intervention (staff training, equipment, internal clinical audits, cost sharing system, patients-providers meetings) in improving cesarean delivery access and quality in an urban district of Burkina Faso.Methods: We conducted a before-after study in the health district sector 30 in Ouagadougou between 2003 and 2006. We measured cesarean delivery quality (accessibility, diagnosis, procedure, postoperative follow-up) and maternal and neonatal health in 1371 sections.Results: The number of cesarean deliveries performed increased each year, from 42 in 2003 to 630 in 2006. This increase happened without increase in maternal and perinatal post-cesarean mortality (respectively 1.1% and 3.6% in 2006). The cesarean delivery rate for women of the district increased from 1.9% to 3.3% of expected births between 2003 and 2005.Conclusion: To improve access to quality cesarean delivery, we have shown that it was necessary to have a systemic approach combining technical, operational, sociocultural, and political factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess the availability, accessibility, utilization, and quality of emergency obstetric care (EmOC) services in Malawi.Methods: A complete enumeration was made of all hospitals and a 25% random sample of all health centers, in all districts of Malawi. Enumerators (nurses and midwives) collected data by reviewing facility registers and records, observations, and interviews with health workers to determine extent of utilization of services. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions were also held with key informants to identify barriers to utilization of services and explore participants' perceptions of quality of care.Results: Almost twice the minimum number of recommended comprehensive EmOC facilities exist (1.8 facilities per 500,000 population), but only 2% of the recommended number of basic EmOC facilities. Met need was only 18.5%; cesarean delivery rate was less than 3%. The case fatality rate was 3.4% indicating poor quality of care, attributable partly to absence of skilled birth attendants and motivated staff, and the frequent shortage of drugs and medical supplies.Conclusion: Malawi needs to improve the provision of quality EmOC services by implementing evidence-based strategies for the reduction of maternal mortality. Consequently, the Malawi Road Map for accelerating improvement was developed through multidonor and multisector collaboration with the Reproductive Health Unit of the Ministry of Health. This Road Map is now being implemented in all districts of Malawi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The high cost of emergency obstetric care (EmOC) is a catastrophic health expenditure for households, causing delay in seeking and providing care in poor countries.Methods: In Nouakchott, the Ministry of Health instituted Obstetric Risk Insurance to allow obstetric risk sharing among all pregnant women on a voluntary basis. The fixed premium (US$21.60) entitles women to an obstetric package including EmOC and hospital care as well as post-natal care. The poorest are enrolled at no charge, addressing the problem of equity.Results: 95% of pregnant women in the catchment area (48.3% of the city's deliveries) enrolled. Utilization rates increased over the 3-year period of implementation causing quality of care to decline. Basic and comprehensive EmOC are now provided 24/7. The program has generated US$382,320 in revenues, more than twice as much as current user fees. All recurrent costs other than salaries are covered.Conclusion: This innovative sustainable financing scheme guarantees access to obstetric care to all women at an affordable cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This paper argues for an additional indicator for measuring progress of the Millennium Development Goal for maternal health-the availability of emergency obstetric care.Methods: MDG monitoring will be based on two indicators: the maternal mortality ratio and the proportion of births attended by skilled personnel. Strengths and weaknesses of a third indicator are discussedResults: The availability of EmOC measures the capacity of the health system to respond to direct obstetric complications. Benefits to using this additional indicator are its usefulness in determining an adequate distribution of services and showing management at all levels what life-saving interventions are not being provided, and stimulate thought as to why. It can reflect programmatic changes over a relatively short period of time and data requirements are not onerous.Conclusion: A measure of strength of the health system is important since many interventions depend on the health system for their implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To establish a baseline for the availability, utilization, and quality of EmOC, and to help develop an operational strategy based on the findings.Methods: A needs assessment of emergency obstetric care (EmOC) was carried out in 197 health facilities in 19 out of 56 districts in Uganda, covering 38% of the total population.Findings: There were a large number of missing signal functions at health facilities and an urgent need to improve the availability of EmOC.Conclusion: By using the data from the assessment, it was possible to influence national policy through the health sector-wide approach (SWAp) and place EmOC high on the national agenda. A national strategy and roll out plan to strengthen EmOC is now in place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The Government of Bangladesh has implemented safe motherhood programs throughout the country supported by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) aimed at reducing maternal morbidity and mortality. The objective of this study is to assess the effect of the interventions on the UN emergency obstetric care (EmOC) process indicators in Khulna division, Bangladesh.Methods: Of the 71 government health facilities in Khulna division, 32 were providing comprehensive and 20 were providing basic EmOC services. Another 4 facilities were providing comprehensive or basic EmOC services during the first three-quarters but became non-functional during the last quarter. EmOC data, from January to December 2002, were collected from all these 56 facilities to determine the levels of EmOC process indicators relative to the UN guidelines and compared with baseline data from 1998 to 1999.Results: There were 1.04 and 0.64 comprehensive and basic EmOC facilities respectively per 500,000 population. When compared with the baseline data, the coverage of comprehensive EmOC services was substantially increased from 0.23 to 1.04 per 500,000 population, which achieves the minimum UN standards but the coverage of basic EmOC services remained the same. The data also showed that, compared with the baseline survey, the proportion of births at the EmOC facilities increased 119% from 5.3% to 11.7% (p<0.001), met need increased 141% from 11.1% to 26.6% (p<0.001), and cesarean section as a proportion of all expected births, increased 151% from 0.5% to 1.3% (p<0.001), while the overall case fatality rate (CFR) decreased by 51% (p<0.001).Conclusion: With the exception of coverage of basic EmOC after the interventions, there was significant improvement in all the EmOC process indicators in Khulna division. However, most of the process indicators are still far from the minimum recommended UN standards.Recommendations: Efforts should continue to keep the EmOC facilities functional 24/7 while increasing the number of basic EmOC facilities, and improving utilization of services to reach the minimum UN standards. Community mobilization should be directed to understand the danger signs and utilization of services at functional facilities when necessary. Further research to identify the factors influencing utilization of EmOC services and continuous monitoring and periodical assessment of the process indicators are recommended to evaluate the overall situation from time to time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]