Background: About 60% of institutional births occur in the private sector in Gujarat
due to limited availability of obstetricians in the government. Chiranjeevi Yojana
(CY), a voucher-like program initiated in 2007, accredits private obstetricians who
are reimbursed by the state government to provide free delivery care to eligible
women i.e. below poverty line and tribal. One million women have delivered under
the CY program yet there are no large community based studies of the program.
Methodology of a prospective community study is described here. Methods/Designs:
A prospective cohort study was done in 142 villages across 3 districts in Gujarat between
July, 2013 and November, 2014. A detailed survey was done by trained researchers
to ascertain maternal healthcare information including antenatal, intra-partum
and post-partum care, place of delivery, birth outcomes, out of pocket
expenses etc. Results: 54,955 households were surveyed. 73% of all households had
poverty documentation. 4274 mothers who delivered in the study period were included.
Discussion: This paper is description of the methodology of a large community
based survey and household and individual level characteristics. The survey was
nested in a larger project to evaluate the CY program in the state of Gujarat