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<p>Indonesia consistently records higher levels of maternal mortality than other countries
in Southeast Asia with its same level of socioeconomic development. I use a quasi-experimental,
difference-in-differences approach to understand whether the role of information on
the risk of death in childbirth can change women’s reproductive behaviors. In the
first two chapters, I use the Maternal Mortality Module from the Demographic and Health
Survey (DHS) in Indonesia to examine fertility and reproductive behavior responses
to a sister’s death in childbirth. Fertility desires remain relatively unchanged
but women take up behaviors in subsequent births that avert the risk of maternal death.
In the last chapter, I combine population-representative data from the DHS with a
village-level census (PODES) on service availability to understand how a village-level
intervention to improve obstetric service use using a birth preparedness and complications
readiness (BPCR) approach may improve obstetric service use. In this study, I find
that the Desa Siaga intervention in Indonesia improved knowledge of the danger signs
of complications among women but not among men relative to villages that did not get
the program while controlling for endogenous program placement. More women got antenatal
care due to the program but use of a skilled birth attendant and postpartum care did
not change as a result of the intervention. Both genders report discussing a blood
donor in preparation for delivery.</p>
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