**6. Postnatal care utilization in sub-Saharan Africa**

Data from Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in 23 African nations show that less than 13% of women in sub-Saharan Africa receive postnatal care within two days of childbirth, and only one-third of women give birth in a medical institution [37]. From 2006 to 2018, the pooled magnitude of postnatal care service utilization in sub-Saharan African countries was 52.48% with the highest utilization in the central region of Africa (73.5%) and the lowest utilization in the eastern region (31.7%) [23]. Progress is being made and in many countries, a significant proportion of women increasingly access PNC [5]. However, postnatal care utilization remains low within the continuum of care.
