IMPACT OF INCOME AND EDUCATION ON INSTITUTIONAL DELIVERY IN KARNATAKA

Maternal health is one of the major determinants of health status of a country or the state.The institutional delivery plays a major role in reducing the MMR. At the same time, income and education also play vital role in determining the institutional delivery and also reducing MMR. Given the background, the present article examined the institutional delivery in public and private hospitals.The present paper used secondary cross-section data with multiple regression models. It has been found from the analysis that income is the one of the major determinants to decide the type of the hospital chosen for delivery.The income positively influences the delivery in private hospital and negatively influence delivery in government hospitals. Literacy is very crucial to increase the overall institutional delivery in Karnataka. Literacy is positively influence the institutional delivery.Accordingly,there is need to improve the education system to increase the literacy level and to provide knowledge and education about the need of institutional delivery.It has been also found that the income influence the family to choose private hospital over public hospital for better quality health care and facilities.Therefore, it is necessary to improve the quality of health care services in Karnataka, particularly in rural Karnataka.