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Background: India has experienced a steep rise in institutional childbirth. The relative contributions of public and private sector facilities to emergency obstetric care (EmOC) has not been studied in this setting. This paper aims to study in three districts of Gujarat state, India:(a) the availability of EmOC facilities in the public and private sectors; (b) the availability and distribution of human resources for birth attendance in the two sectors; and (c) to benchmark the above against 2005 World Health Report benchmarks (WHR2005).Methods: A cross-sectional survey of obstetric care facilities reporting 30 or more births in the last three months was conducted (n = 159). Performance of EmOC signal functions and availability of human resources were assessed.Results: EmOC provision was dominated by private facilities (112/159) which were located mainly in district headquarters or small urban towns. The number of basic and comprehensive EmOC facilities was below WHR2005 benchmarks. A high number of private facilities performed C-sections but not all basic signal functions (72/159). Public facilities were the main EmOC providers in rural areas and 40/47 functioned at less than basic EmOC level. The rate of obstetricians per 1000 births was higher in the private sector.Conclusions: The private sector is the dominant EmOC provider in the state. Given the highly skewed distribution of facilities and resources in the private sector, state led partnerships with the private sector so that all women in the state receive care is important alongside strengthening the public sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This paper examines the availability of basic and comprehensive emergency obstetric care (EmOC), interventions used to treat direct obstetric complications. Determining what interventions are provided in health facilities is the first priority in analyzing a country's capabilities to treat obstetric emergencies. There are eight key interventions, six constitute basic EmOC and all eight comprehensive EmOC.Methods and Results: Based on data from 24 needs assessments, the following global patterns emerge: comprehensive EmOC facilities are usually available to meet the recommended minimum number for the size of the population, basic EmOC facilities are consistently not available in sufficient numbers, both in countries with high and moderate levels of maternal mortality, and the majority of facilities offering maternity services provide only some interventions indicating an unrealized potential.Conclusion: Upgrading maternities, health centers and hospitals to at least basic EmOC status would be a major contributing step towards maternal mortality reduction in resource-poor countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]