Women’s Autonomy and its Influences on Utilization of Maternal and Child Health Care Facilities in Bangladesh

Abstract

Women’s autonomy and its association with maternal and child health care have emerged as a focal point of investigations and interventions around the world. It is also an important issue in Bangladesh. In this paper, different dimensions of women’s autonomy and their influences into maternal and child health-care utilization are investigated using data from BDHS 2007. The core hypothesis behind this work is that, women’s with higher autonomy will be more likely to use maternal and child health care services. We employed binary logistic regression and multinomial logistic regression model for the multivariate analyses part. In this study, women’s autonomy defined as women’s decision making power relative to their male partners. Women’s autonomy has increased with age, education, employment and number of children. This study showed that maximum autonomy indicators were important predictors of maternal and child health care utilization. Policymakers need to address women’s autonomy in the household in addition to implement direct health interventions towards improvement of maternal health & child health care.