Analysis of the vital events reporting system of the maternal and neonatal health project, Quetzaltenango, Guatemala

Information was collected at the community/household level from women regarding their pregnancies and births between 1990 and 1993. The sample of women interviewed was drawn from four strata and 122 clusters of about 100 household each in both the area where the Project intervention took place and in control area. The VERS data was collected at four points in time over a two-year period. The incidence rates of complications and the management of complications being examined include: use of health care services, presence of a TBA at the time of the complication, the TBA"s detection of the complication, and whether the TBA referred the woman to health care services. Data analysis suggests some positive changes for the woman with postpartum complications: their incidence decreased and they were detected and referred at greater rates after the intervention, unlike the other complications. It was found out also that their exists a significant difference between the intervention and the control area or between the period before and after the intervention. This may be due to the control area having been contaminated by the intervention at the hospital level. Other data suggest that the intervention had little impact beyond postpartum complications at the community level. (ERIC abstract)