Economic impact of maternal death on households in rural china: a prospective cohort study

To assess the economic impact of maternal death on rural Chinese households during the year after maternal death. A prospective cohort study matched 183 households who had suffered a maternal death to 346 households that experienced childbirth without maternal death in rural areas of three provinces in China. Surveys were conducted at baseline (1-3 months after maternal death or childbirth) and one year after baseline using the quantitative questionnaire. We investigated household income, expenditure, accumulated debts, and self-reported household economic status. Difference-in-Difference (DID), linear regression, and logistic regression analyses were used to compare the economic status between households with and without maternal death. The households with maternal death had a higher risk of self-reported "household economy became worse" during the follow-up period (adjusted OR = 6.04, p