Cash to Increase Facility-Based Deliveries within the Philippines

EVALUATION OVERVIEW

In 2021-2022, the United Nation Population Fund (UNFPA) within the Philippines launched Cash for Maternal Health – Emergency Fund within the conflict-affected Maguindanao province. The Cash for Maternal Health undertaking was designed to facilitate protected being pregnant and supply. Cash was supplied after supply in a well being facility to 850 girls as a method of encouraging facility supply, most frequently at a rural major degree well being facility. Cash for deliveries was a part of a holistic emergency response that additionally supported maternal well being programming by way of quite a few interventions together with the availability of kit and kits to amenities, the conduct of medical missions, and the availability of communitybased maternal well being info periods.

To assess the impacts of the maternal money switch program, UNFPA and the Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health collaborated to conduct a mixedmethods analysis from December 2021 to June 2022. A complete of 330 Cash for Maternal Health money switch recipients had been in comparison with 316 pregnant girls and adolescents who had been registered to ship in amenities however didn’t obtain money help in six totally different municipalities. The analysis included questionnairebased interviews pre-delivery (baseline) and postdelivery (finish line) for all individuals along with qualitative interviews with 20 girls who obtained the money help. The analysis is meant to supply new proof to tell planning of maternal well being programmes with money elements, each within the Philippines and past.

Key findings had been as follows:

• Women and adolescents who obtained money help had been considerably extra possible than the comparability group to have a facility-based supply (86.4% vs.58.7%) and reported that they did so as a result of it was safer for themselves and the newborn (85.7%). They had been additionally considerably extra glad (98.1% vs. 83.9%) and extra more likely to plan for future pregnancies to be delivered within the facility (95.8% vs. 64.0%) than the ladies within the comparability group.

• Almost all recipients reported that their husband and/or relations had been conscious of the help (95.4%) and supported receipt of the money (95.5%). Women both independently (46.3%) or collaboratively (27.9%) determined with their husband how one can use the money, although 25% reported they didn’t have major decision-making energy. Cash was primarily used to fulfill family’s meals wants.

• Cash didn’t pose security dangers inside the family, and most ladies (78.5%) reported no change (neither higher nor worse) of their relationship after receiving the money. Nearly all girls (99.4%) reported they felt protected receiving the help.

• There was a choice for future help to be supplied as money (59.5%) or by way of a mixture of money and in-kind help (35.1%) and that or not it’s supplied on to girls (78.8%).

The findings of this analysis on the mixing of money help into UNFPA Philippines maternal well being programming inside the Maguindanao emergency response exhibits that using CVA can assist strengthen uptake of well being companies. The money incentive contributes to girls and adolescents visiting well being amenities extra usually all through their pregnancies, turning into extra comfy doing so, sharing their intention to return to the amenities for subsequent pregnancies, and inspiring different girls to do the identical