Abstract
PurposeThis study aimed to identify the proportion and factors influencing the use of maternal health services (MHS) in rural Thawang, Rolpa, Nepal.Design/methodology/approachThis was a community-based cross-sectional study conducted among 417 mothers who had given birth in the previous two years. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression was applied to identify associations and predictors.FindingsThe results showed that the use of maternal health services was 50.8%. Adjusting for all other factors in the final model, age group 25–30 years (AOR: 2.30; 95% CI: 1.199–4.422), spouse communication (AOR: 7.31; 95% CI: 2.574–20.791), high accessibility (AOR: 2.552, 95% CI: 1.402–4.643) and high affordability (AOR: 10.89; 95% CI: 4.66–25.445) were significant predictors.Research limitations/implicationsThis is a community-based cross-sectional study, and hence cannot establish causal relationships. The research was conducted in a limited rural area mid-Western Nepal, and this may limit the generalization of results to other settings of the country.Practical implicationsThis research supports to local level government and district health authority to develop and implement need based action to increase maternal health service in the local context.Originality/valueUnderutilization of maternal health services is the result of socioeconomic dynamics, poor access to health services and other physical developments. To increase utilization of maternal health services in rural areas, there is a need to tackle the root cause of health inequality such as reducing poverty, increasing female education, involving women in employment and increasing access to health as a priority development agenda by government authorities. This research supports local level government and district health authorities to develop and implement needs-based action to increase MHS in the local context.
Highlights
Almost 830 women die every day from pregnancy or childbirth-related causes
Underutilization of maternal health services (MHS) in Nepal may be one of the important factors for maternal deaths. 11% of deaths in Nepal are related to maternal death with 40% of maternal deaths occurring in the home [7]
It ranks among the lowest categories of human development index (HDI) in the nation Utilization of [25] with a total area of 1879 square km. politically, the Rolpa district is divided maternal into 9 rural municipalities (RM) and 1 main municipality
Summary
Almost 830 women die every day from pregnancy or childbirth-related causes. In 2015, approximately 303,000 women died from pregnancy or childbirth-related causes [1]. Almost all of these deaths were preventable and were mostly recorded to be from developing countries [2]. Antenatal care visits and quality health services are essential strategies to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality, [8,9] as it can support the detection and treatment of complications, support with care and rest during the pregnancy, improve pregnancy outcome [10], and is effective in increasing institutional delivery (skilled birth attendance), which is effective in decreasing maternal mortality in developing countries [1, 11]
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