Inequity in antenatal care quality in Zimbabwe: The role of women’s empowerment

Abstract

ABSTRACT The health systems fail to provide quality antenatal health services to vulnerable and marginalised pregnant women regardless of their effectiveness in reducing maternal and neonatal mortality. Despite the importance of antenatal care quality during pregnancy, less is known regarding its inequality in developing countries. This paper aims to determine the inequality in antenatal care quality in Zimbabwe and the contribution of women’s empowerment. The paper used the 2010/11 and the 2015 Demographic Health Survey data and concentration index and Shapley decomposition. We found that antenatal care quality was pro-rich for blood sample tests, urine sample tests, blood pressure tests, and iron tablets except for tetanus injections, thus the affluent benefit more from better antenatal care quality than the poor. Women’s empowerment had a major contribution to inequality in antenatal care quality. Given the paramount importance of antenatal care in improving maternal, birth, and child outcomes, policymakers should consider policies that enhance the women’s empowerment and quality of antenatal care services in Zimbabwe, which in turn enhance the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals.