Objective To compare the disparity in the completeness of maternal health care (MHC) system between Beijing and Shanghai and to explore the feasibility of quantitative evaluation on the degree of the completeness.
Methods We systematically and extensively collected documents and materials on MHC issued by administrative agencies of Beijing and Shanghai municipality published during 2000 – 2017. Then we extracted relevant information from 649 retrieved documents (232 relevant to Beijing and 417 to Shanghai) and analyzed the information quantitatively to assess the completeness of MHC system in the two municipalities. Spearman correlation and linear regression analysis were used to analyze the relationship between the completeness of MHC system and maternal mortality rate (MMR).
Results The relevant information-derived index for the completeness of MHC system increased from 32.4% in 2000 to 50.6% in 2017 in Beijing municipality; while, the index increased from 41.1% to 64.6% in Shanghai, respectively. For the two municipal MHC systems, the framework completeness was at a high level but the coordination and responsibility assignment among various functional institutions of the system were at a low level. There was an inverse correlation between the index for the completeness of MHC system and MMR in the two municipalities.
Conclusion The completeness of maternal health care system were improved and the improvement facilitated maternal health care practice in Beijing and Shanghai gradually during 2000 – 2017; but the coordination and responsibility assignment among various functional institutions of the system should be promoted. The study verified the feasibility of quantitative assessment on the completeness of maternal health care system.
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