Using the Uganda Demographic and Health Surveys From 2011 and 2016 to Assess Changes in ‘Saving Mothers Giving Life’ Intervention Districts

Lindsay Mallick , The DHS Program
Trinadh Dontamsetti, The DHS Program
Thomas W. Pullum, ICF International
Julia Fleuret, The DHS Program

Launched in 2012 in Uganda and Zambia, the Saving Mothers, Giving Life (SMGL) initiative aimed to improve access, use, and quality of maternal and newborn health care. This study compared the changes in coverage of related maternal and child health (MCH) indicators between SMGL targeted districts and control areas (selected a posteriori) using data from two Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) conducted in Uganda in 2011 and 2016. We employed a difference-in-differences analysis to estimate the significance of the difference in the change between treatment and control areas. Although we observed significant improvements in MCH indicators in both the SMGL and control areas, the gains were not significantly larger in the treatment areas compared with controls, except blood pressure measurement during ANC and cesarean section delivery. The lack of significant difference-in-differences may be due to the small sample sizes in the treatment areas, and results should be interpreted with caution.

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 Presented in Session 192. Evaluation of Family Planning and Other Reproductive Health Services Using a Logic Model