Haiti has the highest maternal mortality rates (MMR) in the Latin America and Caribbean region, and low rates of institutional care contribute to high MMR. Although both structural and behavioral barriers prevent pregnant women from accessing institutional care, behavioral barriers have been often overlooked. Efforts in Haiti to increase rates of institutional care operate on the assumptions that pregnant women do not access care because of the cost, distance to facilities and poor-quality infrastructure of the health centers. While these assumptions are surely at play, they do not cover all the reasons why pregnant women do not seek institutional care in Haiti. A behavioral approach was followed to uncover both structural and behavioral barriers of the decision-making process of pregnant women when thinking of accessing institutional care. The behavioral approach sheds light on other factors beyond the standard variables of prices, distance, and infrastructure, which also affect health seeking behavior, including optimism bias, uncertainty aversion, status quo, disrespectful care and discomfort with the model of care. These insights helped design solutions that have the potential to be more impactful. Policymakers must revise their assumptions about the factors that influence decision making of pregnant women and look beyond structural factors to ensure policies and programs incorporate a behavioral science lens.
Details
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Author
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Document Date
2021/08/23
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Document Type
Brief
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Report Number
163468
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Volume No
1
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Total Volume(s)
1
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Country
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Region
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Disclosure Date
2021/08/30
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Disclosure Status
Disclosed
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Doc Name
A Behavioral Approach to Uncover Barriers to Maternal Care in Haiti
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Keywords
pregnant woman; Prenatal Care; institutional care; behavioral approaches; access to health care; emergency obstetric care; sustainable development goals; maternal mortality rate; maternal health service; health institution; quality of healthcare; theory of change; number of vehicles; community health worker; lack of incentive; quality of care; health seeking behavior; treatment of woman; traditional birth attendant; health facility
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Citation
Perge,Emilie Bernadette Llopis Abella,Jimena
A Behavioral Approach to Uncover Barriers to Maternal Care in Haiti (English). eMBed brief Washington, D.C. : World Bank Group. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/591881630339332207/A-Behavioral-Approach-to-Uncover-Barriers-to-Maternal-Care-in-Haiti