| Abstract |
With the objective of involving private medical practitioners in improving institutional delivery rate and reducing maternal deaths, the Government of Gujarat has initiated a scheme to finance maternity care for women living below the poverty line. Private empanelled providers were reimbursed at a fixed rate for deliveries, irrespective of whether the delivery was normal or caesarean section. The scheme was launched as a one year pilot project in December 2005 among five poor districts of Gujarat using voucher as a mechanism of targeting the poor. The purpose of the study is to address the critical issues related to scheme upscaling and capacity through an analysis of the behaviour of private providers and the management capacity of scheme implementers. |