Maternal Health, What Matters: A Study of Individual and Contextual Factors Related to Maternal Health Care Utilization

Sadaf Khan, Johns Hopkins University
Donna Strobino, Johns Hopkins University

Maternal death and disability are the leading cause of healthy years of life lost for women of reproductive age in developing countries. Underlying the immediate medical causes of maternal mortality are a complex network of determinants including socio-cultural factors and access to and use of health services . This study examined the individual and contextual correlates of care seeking in intrapartum and postpartum periods among a nationally representative sample of 5,724 Pakistani women. Data from the 2006-07 Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey were analyzed using hierarchical logistic regression. Antenatal care and financial and logistic preparation for the birth were associated with significantly increased odds of health care use. Among contextual factors, community infrastructure, concentration of poverty and contraceptive use in the community were associated with use of health services. These findings have implications for targeted health interventions including providing family planning and antepartum care to women in the poorest communities