Examining the Urban advantage in maternal health care in developing countries

Although recent survey data make it possible to examine inequalities in maternal and newborn health care in developing countries, analyses have not tended to take into consideration the special nature of urban poverty. Using improved methods to measure urban poverty in 30 countries, we found substantial inequalities in maternal and newborn health, and in access to health care. The ‘‘urban advantage’’ is, for some, non-existent. The urban poor do not necessarily have better access to services than the rural poor, despite their proximity to services. There are two main patterns of urban inequality in developing countries: (1) massive exclusion, in which most of the population do not have access to services, and (2) urban marginalisation, in which only the poor are excluded. At a country level, these two types of inequality can be further subdivided on the basis of rural access levels. Inequity is not mandatory. Patterns of health inequality differ with context, and there are examples of countries with relatively small degrees of urban inequity. Women and their babies need to have access to care, especially around the time of birth. Different strategies to achieve universal coverage in urban areas are needed according to urban inequality typology, but the evidence for what works is restricted to a few case studies