Dimensions of women’s empowerment on access to skilled delivery services in Nepal

BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth

Shunya Ikeda¹  Koji Wada¹  Januka Khatiwada¹  Basilua Andre Muzembo² 

[1] Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, International University of Health and Welfare, 4-3 Kozunomori, 286-8686, Narita City, Chiba, Japan;Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan;

关键词: Skilled delivery service;    women’s empowerment;    Demographic and health survey;    Nepal;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12884-020-03309-9

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundEach day, approximately 810 women die during pregnancy and childbirth and 94% of the deaths take place in low and middle income countries. Only 45% of the births in South Asia are attended by skilled professionals, which is lower than that in other Asian regions. Antenatal and postnatal care received from skilled providers can help prevent maternal and neonatal mortality by identifying pregnancy-related complications. Women’s empowerment is considered to be a significant determinant of maternal health care outcomes; however, studies on the contextual influences of different dimensions of empowerment in Nepal are relatively limited. Therefore, this study analyzed nationwide survey data to examine the influence of women’s economic empowerment, sociocultural empowerment, familial/interpersonal empowerment and media and information technology empowerment on accessing skilled delivery services among the married women in Nepal.MethodsThis study examined the influence of women’s empowerment on skilled delivery services among married women (n = 4400) aged 15–49 years using data from the 2016 Nepal Demographic and Health Survey. Descriptive analysis and binary logistic regression analysis were employed to analyze the data.ResultsSignificant associations were found between women’s media and information technology empowerment, economic empowerment and sociocultural empowerment and access to skilled birth attendants. Specifically, the education of women, their occupation, owning a bank account, media exposure, and internet use were significantly associated with the use of skilled birth attendants.ConclusionFocusing on women’s access to media and information technology, economic enhancement and education may increase the use of skilled birth attendants in Nepal.

【 授权许可】

CC BY