A Tale of Two Bengals: A Comparative Analysis of 23 Indicators of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health

Background: Bangladesh and the Indian State of West Bengal form a homogenous geographic and cultural region with distinct administrative and governance structures. Although social and economic indicators are generally better in West Bengal compared to Bangladesh, this article is the first to provide a detailed comparison of indicators of child mortality, maternal and child health, nutrition, and coverage of key interventions in the two regions. Methodology/Findings: Using data from the 2005–2006 National Family Health Survey for West Bengal and the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (2007), we examined coverage, wealth and Hindu/Muslim inequalities in set of maternal, newborn and child health indicators. Performance across all indicators was broadly similar with comparatively better performance in West Bengal on coverage of antenatal…