The population-level impacts of a national health insurance program and franchise midwife clinics on achievement of prenatal and delivery care standards in the Philippines

OBJECTIVES: Adequate prenatal and delivery care are vital components of successful maternal health care provision. Starting in 1998, two programs were widely expanded in the Philippines: a national health insurance program (PhilHealth); and a donor-funded franchise of midwife clinics (Well Family Midwife Clinics). This paper examines population-level impacts of these interventions on achievement of minimum standards for prenatal and delivery care. METHODS: Data from two waves of the Demographic and Health Surveys, conducted before (1998) and after (2003) scale-up of the interventions, are employed in a pre/post-study design, using longitudinal multivariate logistic and linear regression models. RESULTS: After controlling for demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, the PhilHealth insurance program scale-up was associated with increased odds of receiving at least four prenatal visits (OR 1.04 [95% CI 1.01-1.06]) and receiving a visit during the first trimester of pregnancy (OR 1.03 [95% CI 1.01-1.06]). Exposure to midwife clinics was not associated with significant changes in achievement of prenatal care standards. While both programs were associated with slight increases in the odds of delivery in a health facility, these increases were not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that expansion of an insurance program with accreditation standards was associated with increases in achievement of minimal standards for prenatal care among women in the Philippines.

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