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Table 1 Background characteristics of rural women who gave birth in the past 5 years preceding the survey in Malawi, MDHS 2015–16

From: Availability of health facilities and utilization of maternal and newborn postnatal care in rural Malawi

 

Total

n

%

Age

 15–24

4368

37.7%

 25–34

4879

42.2%

 35–49

2329

20.1%

Education

 None

8663

74.8%

 Primary

2453

21.2%

 Secondary or higher

460

4.0%

Employment

 Yes

7861

67.9%

 No

3715

32.1%

Rural Wealth Quintile

 Poorest

2770

23.9%

 Poorer

2510

21.7%

 Middle

2307

19.9%

 Richer

2134

18.4%

 Richest

1855

16.0%

Religion

 Catholic

1877

16.2%

 Other Christian

7884

68.1%

 Muslim/other/no religion

1814

15.7%

Number of births

 1

2655

22.9%

 2–3

4126

35.6%

 4+

4795

41.4%

TV/Radio Ownership

 Yes

4370

38.1%

 No

7111

61.9%

Cost of treatment (of any sickness) being a perceived problem

 Yes

6602

57.0%

 No

4974

43.0%

Region of residence

 Northern

1360

11.8%

 Central

4865

42.0%

 Southern

5351

46.2%

Place of delivery

 Home

798

7.0%

 Health Facility

10,599

93.0%

C-section

 Yes

624

5.4%

 No

10,911

94.6%

Maternal health check before discharge from the health facility

 Yes

4847

45.9%

 No

5711

54.1%

Newborn health check before discharge from the health facility

 Yes

6940

65.7%

 No

3618

34.3%

Newborn size

 Very large

1112

9.7%

 Larger than average

2831

24.7%

 Average

5659

49.3%

 Smaller than average

1354

11.8%

 Very small

519

4.5%

Newborn sex

 Male

5805

50.2%

 Female

5771

49.9%

Season in which women gave birth

 Warm-wet

5604

48.4%

 Winer-dry

3733

32.3%

 Hot-dry

2239

19.3%

  1. There were 11,576 rural women who gave birth in the past 5 years preceding the survey (weighted)
  2. Columns within a categorical variable sum to 100%
  3. Observations are weighted counts