Term: Travelling to Give Birth - Distance

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Glossary Definition

Last Updated: 2012-11-05

Definition:

This measures the distance in kilometres that a woman had to travel to hospital from home in order to give birth. The method uses the centroid of the postal code of the women's residence and the centroid of the postal code of the hospital where she gave birth in order to calculate the distance travelled to give birth. Distance is calculated "as the crow flies" and does not take into account that in many areas the distance travelled may be greater as the roads do not follow the most direct route. To determine what distance to look at, the distribution of distances was calculated using all deliveries to women who reside outside of Winnipeg. The distribution ranged from 0.73 km (5th percentile) to 473.95 km (95th percentile), with the median being 46.7 km and the 75th percentile being 113.8 km. These distances (46.7 km and 113.8 km) were used as the distance thresholds. The indicator measures the proportion of women traveling more than 46.7 km (and 113.8 km) and was calculated by dividing the number of women traveling more than 46.7 km (and 113.8 km) by the number of women giving birth in a given time and place.

Related concepts 

• Distance to Hospital - A Method to Calculate
• Maternal and Newborn Health Status Indicators

Related terms 

• Distance to Hospital
• Travelling to Give Birth - Location

References 

• Heaman M, Kingston D, Helewa M, Brownell M, Derksen S, Bogdanovic B, McGowan K, Bailly A. Perinatal Services and Outcomes in Manitoba. Winnipeg, MB: Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, 2012. [Report] [Summary] [Updates and Errata] (View)