Hidden Costs of Hospital Based Delivery from Two Tertiary Hospitals in Western Nepal.

INTRODUCTION: Hospital based delivery has been an expensive experience for poor households because of hidden costs which are usually unaccounted in hospital costs. The main aim of this study was to estimate the hidden costs of hospital based delivery and determine the factors associated with the hidden costs. METHODS: A hospital based cross-sectional study was conducted among 384 post-partum mothers with their husbands/house heads during the discharge time in Manipal Teaching Hospital and Western Regional Hospital, Pokhara, Nepal. A face to face interview with each respondent was conducted using a structured questionnaire. Hidden costs were calculated based on the price rate of the market during the time of the study. RESULTS: The total hidden costs for normal delivery and C-section delivery were 243.4 USD (US Dollar) and 321.6 USD respectively. Of the total maternity care expenditures; higher mean expenditures were found for food & drinking (53.07%), clothes (9.8%) and transport (7.3%). For postpartum women with their husband or house head, the total mean opportunity cost of "days of work loss" were 84.1 USD and 81.9 USD for normal delivery and C-section respectively. Factors such as literate mother (p = 0.007), employed house head (p = 0.011), monthly family income more than 25,000 NRs (Nepalese Rupees) (p = 0.014), private hospital as a place of delivery (p = 0.0001), C-section as a mode of delivery (p = 0.0001), longer duration (>5days) of stay in hospital (p = 0.0001), longer distance (>15km) from house to hospital (p = 0.0001) and longer travel time (>240 minutes) from house to hospital (p = 0.007) showed a significant association with the higher hidden costs (>25000 NRs). CONCLUSION: Experiences of hidden costs on hospital based delivery and opportunity costs of days of work loss were found high. Several socio-demographic factors, delivery related factors (place and mode of delivery, length of stay, distance from hospital and travel time) were associated with hidden costs. Hidden costs can be a critical factor for many poor and remote households who attend the hospital for delivery. Current remuneration (10-15 USD for normal delivery, 30 USD for complicated delivery and 70 USD for caesarean section delivery) for maternity incentive needs to account the hidden costs by increasing it to 250 USD for normal delivery and 350 USD for C-section. Decentralization of the obstetric care to remote and under-privileged population might reduce the economic burden of pregnant women and can facilitate their attendance at the health care centers.

Gender-based Violence Among Pregnant Women of Syangja District, Nepal.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to determine prevalence of gender-based violence among pregnant women attending an antenatal care (ANC) clinic. METHODS: Between September 2014 and December 2014, a cross-sectional study was conducted among 202 pregnant women attending the antenatal ward of the Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC) of Syangja district, Nepal. The data were collected using semistructure questionnaires with face-to-face interviews. SPSS software (IBM Corp, Armonk, NY, USA) was used for analysis the data. RESULTS: The prevalence rate of gender-based violence was found to be 91.1% (184). Most of the respondents (87%) faced economic violence followed by psychological (53.8%), sexual (41.8%), and physical (4.3%) violence. Women experienced: (1) psychological violence with most complaining of angry looks followed by jealousy or anger while talking with other men, insults using abusive language and neglect; (2) economic violence with most complaining of financial hardship, denial of basic needs and an insistence on knowing where respondents were and restricting them to parents' home or friends/relatives' houses (jealousy); (3) physical violence by slapping, pushing, shaking, or throwing something at her, twisting arm or pulling hair, and punching and kicking; and (4) sexual violence by physically forcing her to have sexual intercourse without consent, and hurting or causing injury to private parts. Most (100%) of the perpetrators were found to be husbands and mothers-in-law (10.7%) who violated them rarely. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of gender-based violence (GBV) among pregnant women attending the ANC clinic was greater in the Syangja district of Nepal. Women's empowerment, economic autonomy, sensitization, informal or formal training regarding GBV for men and women, and the need for large-scale population-based surveys are the major recommendations of this study.

Are Free Maternity Services Completely Free of Costs?

OBJECTIVES: The Government of Nepal revised free maternity health services, "Aama Surakshya Karyakram", beginning at the start of Fiscal Year 2012/13, which specifies the services to be funded, the tariffs for reimbursement, and the system for claiming and reporting on free deliveries each month. This study was designed to investigate the amount of monetary expenditure incurred by families using apparently free maternity services. METHODS: Between August 2014 and December 2014, a hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted at Manipal Teaching Hospital and Western Regional Hospital. Nepalese women were not involved with family finances and had very little knowledge of income or expenditures. Therefore, face-to-face interviews with 384 postpartum mothers with their husbands or the head of the family household were conducted at the time of discharge by using a pre-tested semi-structural questionnaire. RESULTS: The average monthly family income was 19,272.4 NRs (189.01 US$), the median duration of hospital stay was 4 days (range, 2-19 days), and the median patient expenditure was equivalent to 13% of annual family income. The average total visible cost was 3,887.07 NRs (38.1 US$). When the average total hidden cost of 27,288.5 NRs (267.6 US$) was added, then the average total maternity care expenditure was 31,175.6 NRs (305.76 US$), with an average cost per day of 7,167.5 NRs (70.29 US$). The mean patient expenditure on food and drink, clothes, transport, and medicine was equivalent to 53.07%, 9.8%. 7.3%, and 5.6% of the mean total maternity care expenditure, respectively. The earnings lost by respondent women, husbands, and heads of household were 5,963.7 NRs (58.4 US$), 7,429.3 NRs (72.9 US$), and 6,175.9 NRs (60.6 US$), respectively. CONCLUSION: The free maternity service in Nepal has high out-of-pocket expenditures, and did not represent a system completely free of costs. Therefore, arrangements should be made by hospitals free of cost to provide medicine that is not included as essential during the hospital stay and at discharge time. Similarly, arrangements for liquid, food, and hot water, as well as clothes for mothers and newborns, should be made by the hospital in order to enhance hospital attendance.