Choice of service facility for maternal care and its proximate correlates

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to investigate the association between provision of maternal care services and its differentials. The study used data from Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys. The analysis revealed that the socio-economic status of women has positive impact on the likelihood of seeking antenatal care and delivering birth at a health facility. Women who have secondary and above education, the preference of facility delivery was also high. The likelihood of preferring private sector relative to public sector for delivery care has been increasing over time. The women of richest quintile are 3.5 times more likely to prefer delivery at public facility relative to home than the poorest quintile. The women with secondary and above education are 4 times more likely to deliver their child birth at public facility relative to home. This paper concludes that more attention should be given to the determinants of reproductive health, associated with their interactions such as service provision to reduce maternal morbidity and to achieve the MDG for maternal mortality.

Bangladesh J. Sci. Res. 27(2): 175-185, December-2014