Open AccessHousehold and context-level determinants of birth registration in Sub-Saharan Africa
Author(s) -
Anne Lieke Ebbers,
Jeroen Smits
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0265882
Subject(s) - odds , context (archaeology) , demography , birth rate , decentralization , live birth , prenatal care , poverty , pregnancy , birth attendant , medicine , geography , fertility , environmental health , economic growth , population , political science , logistic regression , economics , sociology , maternal health , health services , archaeology , biology , law , genetics
While according to the United Nations birth registration is a human right, in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) only half of new-born children currently have their birth registered. To gain insight into the reasons behind this low registration rate, we study the role of determinants at the household, sub-national regional and country level, using self-reported birth registration data on 358,842 children in 40 SSA countries. While most of the variation in reported birth registration is due to factors at the household level, context factors are found to play an important role as well. At the household level, poverty, low education, restricted autonomy of women, and belonging to a traditional religion are associated with lower odds of being registered. Lack of professional care during pregnancy, delivery, and early life also decrease the odds of being registered. Important factors at the context level are the average number of prenatal care visits in the local area, living in an urban area, the kind of birth registration legislation, decentralization of the registration system, fertility rates, and the number of conflicts. To improve registration, the complex dynamics of these factors at the household and context level have to be taken into account.