MONITORING UNMET OBSTETRIC NEED AT DISTRICT LEVEL IN MOROCCO

Unmet obstetric need was assessed in Taounate province (Morocco) durin g the year 1995 by monitoring rates of major obstetric intervention fo r absolute maternal indications. We report results in terms of spatial distribution of the failures of the health care system to provide wom en with essential emergency obstetric care. An estimated 135 women wit h life-threatening conditions did not benefit from the obstetric inter ventions they required. The paper documents the effects of the monitor ing process on the way the provincial team changed their way of dealin g with deliveries. Assessment of unmet obstetric need in Taounate prov ince proved feasible and affordable without external budgetary inputs. It provided the team with information on the magnitude of a previousl y ignored problem. The results were so dramatic as to lead the team to look for causes and solutions. These were clearly not merely technica l but systemic in nature.