Vol. 2000 No. 1 (2000)
Quantitative Assessment of Maternal Health Outcomes through Home Visits by Community Health Workers in South Africa: A Case Study
Abstract
Maternal health outcomes in South Africa have been a focus of public health initiatives aimed at improving reproductive and newborn care. A mixed-methods approach was employed with quantitative data collected from CHW records and qualitative insights gathered through interviews with participants. The study utilised a stratified random sampling technique to ensure representation across different regions. CHWs reported a significant improvement in antenatal care adherence (92%) compared to the national average of 75%. However, there was a notable variability in service utilization depending on geographical location and socioeconomic status. Home visits by CHWs have demonstrated potential for enhancing maternal health outcomes, particularly in areas with lower healthcare access. Further research is recommended to explore long-term impacts and scalability. Investment should be prioritised in training programmes for CHWs to ensure consistent quality of care and expansion of services into underserved regions. Treatment effect was estimated with $\text{logit}(p_i)=\beta_0+\beta^\top X_i$, and uncertainty reported using confidence-interval based inference.