POLICY CHALLENGES: IMPROVING HEALTH SERVICES AND CARE IN THE DECENTRALISED ENVIRONMENT
THE SITUATION OF CHILDREN AND WOMEN IN INDONESIA 2000-2010 62
THE SITUATION OF CHILDREN AND WOMEN IN INDONESIA 2000-2010 63
midwives from 40.7 per cent in 1992 to 66.3 per cent in 2002 and 73 per cent in 2007 Figure 3.1.20. However, these igures are still some way from reaching the GoI target of 90 per cent of
births assisted by skilled personnel.
28
Although it is beyond the remit of this work to provide the reader with a comprehensive explanatory analysis of disparities in Indonesia across all health indicators, nevertheless, by
focusing on key health indicators, it is evident that a series of structural i.e., developmental, geographic and economic factors, social and culturalbehavioural factors discussed in later
sections of this report all contribute to the production and reproduction of disparities. One important aspect is the provision of services and the readiness of the population to use those
health facilities which are likely to play a critical role in reducing the MMR, IMR and U5MR. Critical services, with regards to these key indicators, include antenatal care discussed previously, birth
delivery assistance, postnatal care and immunization programmes.
Unsurprisingly, there are some notable differences in the use and availability of these services. For instance, at a national level 46 per cent of births take place at a health facility. At the province
level, this ranges from 91 per cent in Bali to just 8 per cent in Southeast Sulawesi, according to 2007 IDHS data. A clear pattern of inter-provincial disparities emerges from the data with only
four of Indonesia’s 33 provinces achieving the government target of providing 90 per cent of births with skilled assistance.
Figure 3.1.20: Percentage of assisted births, Indonesia 2002-2007
Source: IDHS 2002-2003 and 2007
Figure 3.1.21: Percentage of births assisted by skilled providers most qualified persons, Indonesia 2007
Source: IDHS 2007
28 BPS - Statistics Indonesia and Macro International, Indonesia Demographic and Health Surveys IDHS 1991, 2002-2003 and 2007
On the whole, the more rural provinces and particularly those in eastern Indonesia are the least likely to use the assistance of skilled health personnel at childbirth. Furthermore, many of the
same provinces with high infant mortality rates are those that have the lowest proportions of births assisted by skilled health personnel. As would be expected, data on assisted birthdelivery
confirms the existence of ruralurban disparities, but more detailed data from the National Socio- Economic Surveys SUSENAS 2000-2009, BPS - Statistics Indonesia and from the Ministry of
Health 2007 Riskesdas, Basic Health Research provide some further insights. Data from the National Socio-Economic Survey Figure 3.1.22 indicate that the ruralurban gap decreased
between 2000 and 2004 from a gap of 31.7 per cent in 2000 improving to an all-time best of 24.8 per cent in 2004, but has remained consistent since then at approximately 25 per cent.
Furthermore, in a study in the Serang and Pandeglang districts in Banten province on Java, as cited in National Development Planning Board BAPPENAS
and Ministry of Health’s The Landscape Analysis, Makowiecka et al. 2009 found a higher density of midwives working in
urban areas as compared to remote areas, and also found that those assigned to remote areas were less experienced and managed fewer births, compromising their capacity to maintain
professional skills.
29
Furthermore, 2007 IDHS data indicates that in those provinces where there are lower rates of skilled birth attendance, there is a preference for the use of traditional birth
attendants dukun bayi. For example, traditional birth attendants were commonly used in Maluku 67.5 per cent, West Sulawesi 63.2 per cent, Southeast Sulawesi 67.3 per cent, Gorantalo 69.6
per cent, Banten 52.1 per cent and Bengkulu 50.6 per cent, amongst others. These results indicate issues of preference for traditional birth methods, as well as problems of coverage of
skilled birth attendants.
Figure 3.1.22: Percentage of women with children under age five who used trained health personnel during their most recent delivery by area, Indonesia 2000-2008
Source: BPS - Statistics Indonesia, Welfare Statistics based on National Socio-Economic Surveys 2000-2008
Figure 3.1.23 from 2007 Riskesdas data sheds further light on the nature of the delivery assistance which rural and urban women use.
30
Very few rural women give birth with the assistance of qualified health professional. Only 2.6 per cent of rural women give birth with the assistance of a
doctor, and while a significantly larger proportion of rural women give birth assisted by a midwife 32.9 per cent this figure is still only about half that of urban women 61.7 per cent. It is also in
rural areas that women are more likely to use traditional birth attendants and infant mortality rates are higher, particularly amongst poorer groups.
29 BAPPENAS National Development Planning BoardIndonesian Ministry of Health 2010 The landscape analysis: Indonesian country assessment
, BAPPENAS: Jakarta, p61 30 Ministry of Health 2008 Laporan Nasional, Riset Kesehatan Dasar Riskesdas 2007, National Institute of Health Research and
Development: Jakarta
Jambi Papua
W est Papua
W est Sumatra
W est Kalimantan
Riau Riau Islands
East kalimantan Banten
Bangka Belitung Central Kalimantan
Bali W
est Java Maluku
Gorontal o
East Nusa T enggar
a
W est Nusa T
enggar a
Nanggroe Aceh D
Lampung Central Sulawesi
Southeast Sulawesi Bengkul
u
Central Java D.I. Y
ogyakarta East Java
South Sumatra South Kalimantan
D.K.I Jakarta North Sumatra
North Maluku North Sulawesi
South Sulawesi W
est Sulawesi Indonesi
a 120.0
100.0 80.0
60.0 40.0
32. 8
46. 2
46. 3
72. 5
73. 83.
97. 3
20.0 0.0
Per cent Per cent
0.0 10.0
20.0 30.0
40.0 50.0
60.0 70.0
80.0 66.3
73.0 31.5
24.0 IDHS 2002-2003
IDHS 2007 IDHS 2002-2003
IDHS 2007 Skilled provider
Traditional Birth Attendant
Per cent
100.00 81.5
83.5 83.8
85.7 85.8
84.8 87.2
88.7 88.2
62.9 60.6
49.8 50.7
53.7 55.4
61.0 59.3
61.0
2000 2001
2002 2003
2004
Year
2005 2006
2007 2008
80.00 60.00
40.00 20.00
0.00 Urban
Rural
THE SITUATION OF CHILDREN AND WOMEN IN INDONESIA 2000-2010 64
THE SITUATION OF CHILDREN AND WOMEN IN INDONESIA 2000-2010 65
Figure 3.1.23: Percentage of mothers with assisted childbirths, most recent birth by area and type of assistance, Indonesia 2007
Source: Ministry of Health, Riskesdas 2007
Figure 3.1.24: Percentage of births assisted by skilled providers, by wealth quintile, Indonesia 2007
Source: IDHS 2007
Figure 3.1.25: Percentage of mothers with assisted childbirths, most recent birth by wealth quintile, Indonesia 2007
Source: Riskesdas 2007
Figures 3.1.24 and 3.1.25 provide some information relating to assisted delivery. Figure 3.1.24, showing IDHS data, indicates relatively high proportions of deliveries assisted by skilled health
personnel across the wealth quintiles in Indonesia. However, while the rates range from 79.2 per cent to 86.4 per cent across the four wealthiest quintiles, the least wealthy quintile lags far behind,
at only 65 per cent of the women’s most recent deliveries. The more detailed data from the 2007 Riskesdas regarding the nature of the assistance provided during delivery shows a distinct set of
disparities across the social strata Figure 3.1.25. Birth assistance provided by doctors remains low throughout Indonesian society, ranging from 2.9 per cent amongst the poorest and just under
70.0
13.6 2.6
1.4 1.8 61.7
32.9 18.7
43.7
4.0 16.9
0.7 2.2 Doctor
Midwife Other paramedic Traditional Birth
Attendant Family
Other 60.0
50.0 40.0
30.0 20.0
10.0 0.0
Urban Rural
100.0 65.0
79.2 82.8
86.5 86.4
4.7 2.3
1.4 0.3
0.2 80.0
60.0 40.0
20.0 0.0
Traditional Birth Attendant Skilled provider
lowest Second
Middle Fout
h Highest
10 per cent amongst the wealthiest. Midwives are clearly an important source of skilled support, being the main source of assistance for the two highest quintiles of society. In contrast, traditional
birth attendants remain the main source of support for the three poorest quintiles, and in the provinces with the lowest rates of skilled birth attendance. Additional data based on the 2005
Intercensal Survey SUPAS underline wealth-based inequalities, including the estimate that 83 per cent of women in the highest wealth quintile give birth at a health facility whilst only 14 per
cent of women in the lowest quintile do so.
To measure the achievement towards MDGs, health experts have argued that the proportion of births attended by skilled health attendants is not as closely associated with maternal death as
much as the capacity to manage the direct causes of maternal death. Interventions addressing maternal death should be implemented both through providing skilled assistance and creating
an ‘enabling environment’ for managing cases of post-partum haemorrhage, severe infections, eclampsia, prolonged labour and also abortion complications, as well as known cases of obstetric
emergencies or complications.
31
Furthermore, WHO 2006 demonstrates that maternal mortality remains high in countries where a large proportion of health professionals are not able to
manage obstetric emergencies either due to lack of training or lack of an ‘enabling environment’ and where referral systems do not facilitate timely life-saving interventions.
32
Other research indicates that assisted births in hospitals and other health-care institutions are likely to reduce
maternal and infant mortality associated with complicated deliveries.
Such findings seem relevant for explaining, at least in part, the only marginal decreases in infant and maternal mortality rates. Facility-based delivery is incredibly important for decreasing
deaths from complicated births, but there has been little change in use of health facilities for delivery during the same time period when decline in infant and maternal mortality rates have
been stagnating in Indonesia. Figures 3.1.26, 3.1.27 and 3.1.28 demonstrate that the number of births in public health-care facilities has changed little between 2002-2003 and 2007, but births
in private health facilities have increased and births in the home have decreased slightly. While many of the figures mentioned earlier indicated an aggregate increase in the uptake of assisted
births by skilled professionals in recent years, this has not been accompanied by significant reductions in infant and maternal mortality rates. At the same time, there has not been a similar
uptake of using public health-care facilities for assisted births. Therefore, the marginal change in mortality rates over time may also be related to the underutilization of health-care facilities for
delivery. Furthermore, the number of births at home in rural areas has only decreased marginally compared to urban areas, with very little difference in the use of public health facilities for
assisted births in both urban and rural populations - in rural areas in particular mortality rates remain high. Urban populations tend to be less likely in 2007 to give birth at home, tending to be
using private health facilities. The breakdown of the 2007 Riskesdas data demonstrates that as wealth increases, so too does the likelihood of using private health providers instead of giving
birth in the home, but that there is very little difference by wealth quintile on the use of public facilities, with the poorest quintiles being least likely to use public or private health facilities see
Figure 3.1.28.
60.0 50.0
40.0
Quintile 1 Quintile 2
Quintile 3
Wealth Quintile
Quintile 4 Quintile 5
30.0 20.0
10.0 0.0
2.9 30.
4
1.9 44.
5
18. 2.3
35. 9
3.1 1.0
42. 2
16. 2
1.6 4.9
38. 4
38. 9
13. 9
2.2 6.0
44. 36.
6
10. 2
0.9 9.9
52. 5
27. 7
1.5 6.9
1.4 2.9
Per cent Per cent
Per cent
31 Bailey, P., Paxton, A., Lobis, S. and Fry, D. 2006 ‘Measuring progress towards the MDG for maternal health: Including a measure of the health system’s capacity to treat obstetric complications’, International Journal of Gynaecology and Obstetrics
, Vol.93: 292-299 32 WHO 2006 Making a difference in countries
THE SITUATION OF CHILDREN AND WOMEN IN INDONESIA 2000-2010 66
THE SITUATION OF CHILDREN AND WOMEN IN INDONESIA 2000-2010 67
Figure 3.1.26: Percentage births by place of delivery, Indonesia 2002-2007
Source: IDHS 2002-2003 and 2007
Figure 3.1.27: Percentage births by place of delivery and by area, Indonesia 2002-2007
Source: IDHS 2002-2003 and 2007
Figure 3.1.28: Percentage of births by place of delivery and by wealth quintile, Indonesia 2007
Source: IDHS 2007
Overall, it is clear that public services for assisted births by skilled personnel for the rural poor are either not accessible or are underutilized. This may have some bearing on higher IMR and MMR
for these populations. These results also indicate that improving the enabling environment and improving access to and the use of public health-care facilities for assisted births may be key to
reducing mortality rates and to achieving the GoI goal in the ‘Making Pregnancy Safer’ strategy that every obstetric and neonatal complication should be managed adequately.
3.1.3.3 Postnatal care Postnatal care PNC is important for the welfare of both mother and child. It provides an
opportunity to treat complications arising from the delivery, and provides the mother with important information on how to care for herself and her infant. The postnatal period is defined
as the time between delivery of the placenta and 42 days six weeks following delivery. The timing of postnatal care is important because the first two days after delivery are critical;
most maternal and neonatal deaths occur during this period. The following figures on PNC demonstrate that there has only been a very slight increase over time. Marked provincial
disparities also exist. While the majority of provinces have rates of PNC exceeding 60 per cent, there is almost universal coverage in Yogyakarta for example, but only 34 per cent of women
in Papua receive PNC Figure 3.1.31. Disparities also exist among in terms of wealth, whereby approximately 90 per cent of pregnant women in the highest three wealth quintiles receive PNC,
but poorer women lag far behind. While inter-provincial and wealth disparities exist, disparities are less pronounced between urban and rural areas with similar levels of care.
Figure 3.1.31: Percentage of post-partum women with postnatal care by province, Indonesia 2007
Source: IDHS 2007
Figure 3.1.29: Percentage of post-partum women with postnatal care,
Indonesia 2002-2007
Source: IDHS 2002-2003 and 2007
Figure 3.1.30: Percentage of post-partum women with postnatal care by
area, Indonesia 2002-2007
Source: IDHS 2002-2003 and 2007
84.0 83.0
82.5 83.6
82.0 81.0
IDHS 2002-2003 IDHS 2007
Per cent
40.0 50.0
60.0 70.0
80.0 90.0
Urban Rural
IDHS 2002-2003 IDHS 2007 83.
7 81.
9 85.
5 83.
Per cent
120.0 100.0
80.0 34
76 78
84 93
98 60.0
40.0 20.0
0.0 W
est Java Lampung
Central Sulawesi D.I. Y
ogyakarta Central Java
Jambi Papua
W est Papua
W est Sumatra
W est Kalimantan
Riau Riau Islands
East kalimantan Banten
Bangka Belitung Central Kalimantan
Bali Maluku
Gorontal o
East Nusa T enggar
a
W est Nusa T
enggar a
Nanggroe Aceh D
Southeast Sulawesi Bengkul
u East Java
South Sumatra South Kalimantan
D.K.I Jakarta North Sumatra
North Maluku North Sulawesi
South Sulawesi W
est Sulawesi Indonesi
a 60.0
70.0 50.0
40.0 30.0
20.0 10.0
0.0
Percentage
IDHS 2002-2003 IDHS 2007
Health facility public sector
Health facility private sector
Place of Delivery
Home 9.7
36.4 52.7
9.2 30.5
59.0
-5.00 5.00
15.00 25.00
35.00 45.00
55.00 65.00
75.00 85.00
95.00
13. 1
46. 5
39. 5
5.9 16.
6 76.
1
12. 9
57. 4
7.4 21.
5 69.
6
28. 6
Percentage
Health facility public sector Health facility Private sector
Home
IDHS 2002-2003 IDHS 2007
Urban Rural
Urban Rural
-5.00 5.00
15.00 25.00
5.2 8.3
11. 4
12. 2
12. 4
8.4 23.
4 36.
5 49.
5 71.
84. 8
66. 8
51. 1
37. 1
15. 5
35.00 45.00
55.00 65.00
75.00 85.00
95.00
Percentage
Lowest Second
Middle Fourth
Higest Health facility
public sector Health facility
Private sector Home
THE SITUATION OF CHILDREN AND WOMEN IN INDONESIA 2000-2010 68
THE SITUATION OF CHILDREN AND WOMEN IN INDONESIA 2000-2010 69
Figure 3.1.32: Percentage of post-partum women with postnatal care by wealth quintile, Indonesia 2007
Source: IDHS 2007