Assessing the Impact of Healthcare Resources on Birth Outcomes at Private and Public Hospitals in Saudi Arabia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59992/IJFAES.2026.v5n10p7الكلمات المفتاحية:
Healthcare Resources، Birth Outcomes، OB/GYN Physicians، Midwives، Pediatricians، Maternal and Infant Mortality، Saudi Arabiaالملخص
This study aimed to evaluate the impact of healthcare resources on birth outcomes in public and private hospitals in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The study examined the effect of five main resources: obstetricians and gynecologists (OB/GYN), pediatricians, midwives, OB/GYN-specialized hospitals, and hospital beds, and investigated their contribution to key maternal and neonatal health indicators, namely normal and abnormal deliveries, maternal mortality, pregnancy and childbirth complications, and infant mortality. The study was motivated by the scarcity of empirical research on this relationship in the Saudi context and by the importance of healthcare providers and infrastructure in reducing maternal and infant mortality and informing healthcare resource allocation.
The study adopted a quantitative approach and relied on secondary data as the main source of information, collected from the annual Statistical Yearbooks published by the Saudi Ministry of Health for the period 2017 to 2023. Data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), employing descriptive statistics (mean, median, mode, and standard deviation) and linear regression analysis.
The findings indicated a strong and statistically significant relationship between the number of OB/GYN physicians and normal deliveries, with an R² value of 0.898, while no statistically significant relationship was found with abnormal deliveries (R² = 0.007). A strong and statistically significant relationship was also found between the number of pediatricians and infant mortality, with an R² value of 0.841. In contrast, OB/GYN-specialized hospitals (R² = 0.145) and hospital beds (R² = 0.039) showed weak and statistically insignificant relationships with maternal mortality, as did the number of midwives with pregnancy and childbirth complications (R² = 0.240). These results highlight the importance of combining the availability of healthcare resources with improvements in the quality of care.
The study recommends improving the quality of care in specialized hospitals, strengthening midwives' training and emergency obstetric care skills, expanding pediatric services and early infant care programs, and increasing the number of pediatricians, particularly in rural and underserved areas. These measures can contribute to improving birth outcomes and maternal and neonatal health in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The study also calls for future qualitative research addressing service quality, referral systems, and emergency response.
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