Wealth inequalities in timely postnatal care in Malawi: how much do antenatal care and place of delivery explain?

In Malawi’s 2024 DHS sample of 4,726 women, timely postnatal care within two days was reported by 66.6%, while wealth-related inequality in no PNC persisted (RII 0.74).

• Why it matters: Socioeconomic gaps may restrict timely maternal and newborn follow-up after birth, but Malawi-specific evidence on PNC timing and how antenatal care and delivery location explain wealth gradients is limited.
• What they did: Using survey-weighted multinomial logistic regression, the study compared household wealth quintiles for timely, delayed, and no PNC, with sequential adjustment for maternal education, ANC, and place of delivery; SII and RII quantified inequality.
• The result: After full adjustment, richer women still had lower risk of no PNC (RRR 0.67, 95% CI 0.50–0.89), and pathway analysis showed ANC and delivery-facility type accounted for 26.6% of the wealth association, mainly via home delivery.

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