Authors : Ahmed Mohammad Munsur, Anjum Atia and Kazuo Kawahara
Abstract: The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) calls for a 75% reduction in maternal mortality between 1990 and 2015. Trained Birth Attendance and Antenatal Care are two of the most important interventions to reduce maternal mortality. Identifying the factor associated with maternal health care utilization would have meaningful implications in a generalized highly maternal mortality country in Bangladesh. The study is based on secondary data of the household income and expenditure survey conducted by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics during 2005. The sample included only 8836 women, who have maternal health history in their last child birth. Of the 8836 women, 56.0 and 16.4% received antenatal care and trained delivery assistance, respectively. Logistic regression results indicate that educational attainment is the significant predictor that affects the maternal health care utilization. Regarding the use of ANC, women with education were substantially more likely to use ANC than women without education (PC OR = 1.688, 95% CI = 1.476-1.940; SC OR = 2.897, 95% CI = 2.342-3.652; Bachelor and OR = 8.173, 95% CI = 4.724-15.284). In case of TDA, women with education were substantially more likely to use trained delivery assistance than women without education (PC OR = 1.938, 95% CI = 1.555-2.415; SC OR = 4.148, 95% CI = 3.194-5.387; Bachelor and OR = 9.240, 95% CI = 6.068-14.072). Maternal Health care utilization program components could include media campaigns, educational improvement as well as promoting policies that shape the women livelihoods and implementing maternal health care delivery services especially to make progress towards the MDGs five target in Bangladesh.
Ahmed Mohammad Munsur, Anjum Atia and Kazuo Kawahara, 2010. Relationship Between Educational Attainment and Maternal Health CareUtilization in Bangladesh: Evidence from the 2005 Bangladesh Household Income and Expenditure Survey. Research Journal of Medical Sciences, 4: 33-37.