Political History and Disparities in Safe Motherhood Between Guatemala and Honduras

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4904403
AutoresJoseph Shiffman (0000-0002-1693-4671, Syracuse University), Jeremy Shiffman, Ana Lucia Garces Del Valle (Women’s Health Care)
Año2006
Volumen32
Número1
Páginas53-80
Fecha de publicación2006-03-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaPopulation and Development Review (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0098-7921 • E-ISSN: 1728-4457
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1728-4457.2006.00105.x
OpenAlexW2074990019
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas16
Referencias citadas69

Each year, worldwide, more than 500,000 women die of complications from childbirth, making this a leading cause of death globally for adult women of reproductive age. Nearly all studies that have sought to explain the persistence of high maternal mortality levels have focused on the supply of and demand for particular health services. We argue that inquiry on health services is useful but insufficient. Robust explanations for safe motherhood outcomes require examination of factors lying deeper in the causal chain. We compare the cases of Guatemala and Honduras to examine historical and structural influences on maternal mortality. Despite being a poorer country than Guatemala, Honduras has a superior safe motherhood record. We argue that four historical and structural factors stand behind this difference: Honduras's relatively stable and Guatemala's turbulent modern political history; the presence of a marginalized indigenous population in Guatemala, but not in Honduras, that the state has had difficulty reaching; a conservative Catholic Church that has played a larger role in Guatemala than Honduras in blocking priority for reproductive health; and more effective advocacy for maternal mortality reduction in Honduras than Guatemala in the face of this opposition

Childbirth · Developing country · Development economics · Economic growth · Economics · Environmental health · Indigenous · Opposition (politics) · Political science · Politics · Population · Pregnancy · Reproductive health · Sociology · Demography · Global Maternal and Child Health · Global Public Health Policies and Epidemiology · Healthcare Systems and Reforms · Law · Medicine