IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0222643.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The effect of child marriage on the utilization of maternal health care in Nepal: A cross-sectional analysis of Demographic and Health Survey 2016

Author

Listed:
  • Kazutaka Sekine
  • Daniel J Carter

Abstract

A range of demographic and socioeconomic factors are known to account for enormous disparities in the uptake of maternal health care in low- and middle-income countries. In contrast, contextual factors such as child marriage are far less explored as a deterrent to the uptake of maternal health care. The present study aimed to assess the total effect of child marriage on the utilization of maternal health services in Nepal. This study drew on data from the Nepal Demographic and Health Survey 2016. The study restricted its analysis to a subsample of 3,970 currently married women of reproductive age who had at least one live birth in the five years preceding the survey. After descriptive analysis, logistic regression models were constructed to estimate adjusted odds ratios. The results of logistic regression controlling for confounders suggested child marriage decreased the likelihood of antenatal care visits (AOR 0.74; 95% CI 0.63–0.86), skilled attendance at delivery (AOR 0.66; 95% CI 0.56–0.78), facility-based delivery (AOR 0.65; 95% CI 0.56–0.77), and postnatal care use (AOR 0.80; 95% CI 0.67–0.96). The findings of this study reinforced the existing evidence for the adverse effect of child marriage on maternal health-seeking behaviors. Women’s restricted access to household resources, limited autonomy in decision-making, social isolation, and the dominant power of husbands and mothers-in-law may play a role in the findings. Addressing women’s social vulnerability as a barrier to accessing health care may help to increase the uptake of maternal health services.

Suggested Citation

  • Kazutaka Sekine & Daniel J Carter, 2019. "The effect of child marriage on the utilization of maternal health care in Nepal: A cross-sectional analysis of Demographic and Health Survey 2016," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(9), pages 1-13, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0222643
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0222643
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0222643
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0222643&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0222643?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Thaddeus, Sereen & Maine, Deborah, 1994. "Too far to walk: Maternal mortality in context," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 38(8), pages 1091-1110, April.
    2. World Health Organization & UNICEF & UNFPA & World Bank Group & United Nations, 2015. "Trends in Maternal Mortality," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 23550.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kusuma, Dian & Cohen, Jessica & McConnell, Margaret & Berman, Peter, 2016. "Can cash transfers improve determinants of maternal mortality? Evidence from the household and community programs in Indonesia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 10-20.
    2. Pourette, Dolorès & Pierlovisi, Carole & Randriantsara, Ranjatiana & Rakotomanana, Elliot & Mattern, Chiarella, 2018. "Avoiding a "big" baby: Local perceptions and social responses toward childbirth-related complications in Menabe, Madagascar," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 218(C), pages 52-61.
    3. Gayen, Kaberi & Raeside, Robert, 2007. "Social networks, normative influence and health delivery in rural Bangladesh," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(5), pages 900-914, September.
    4. Lídia Farré, 2013. "The Role of Men in the Economic and Social Development of Women: Implications for Gender Equality," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 28(1), pages 22-51, February.
    5. Ekpoanwan E Esienumoh & Janette Allotey & Heather Waterman, 2018. "Empowering members of a rural southern community in Nigeria to plan to take action to prevent maternal mortality: A participatory action research project," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(7-8), pages 1600-1611, April.
    6. Sushma Rajbanshi & Mohd Noor Norhayati & Nik Hussain Nik Hazlina, 2021. "Perceptions of Good-Quality Antenatal Care and Birthing Services among Postpartum Women in Nepal," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-13, June.
    7. Egli, Philipp & Lecuyer, Oskar, 2017. "Quantifying the net cost of a carbon price floor in Germany," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 685-693.
    8. Gizelis, Theodora-Ismene & Karim, Sabrina & Østby, Gudrun & Urdal, Henrik, 2017. "Maternal Health Care in the Time of Ebola: A Mixed-Method Exploration of the Impact of the Epidemic on Delivery Services in Monrovia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 169-178.
    9. Weitzman, Abigail, 2017. "The effects of women's education on maternal health: Evidence from Peru," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 1-9.
    10. Koku, P. Sergius & Farha, Allam Abu, 2020. "Other sources of FDIs in Sub-Saharan Africa: The case of Gulf Cooperation Council states," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 619-626.
    11. Sara Rivenes Lafontan & Johanne Sundby & Hege L. Ersdal & Muzdalifat Abeid & Hussein L. Kidanto & Columba K. Mbekenga, 2018. "“I Was Relieved to Know That My Baby Was Safe” : Women’s Attitudes and Perceptions on Using a New Electronic Fetal Heart Rate Monitor during Labor in Tanzania," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-12, February.
    12. Benjamin M Hunter & Sean Harrison & Anayda Portela & Debra Bick, 2017. "The effects of cash transfers and vouchers on the use and quality of maternity care services: A systematic review," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(3), pages 1-37, March.
    13. Habtamu Tolera & Tegegne Gebre-Egziabher & Helmut Kloos, 2020. "Using Andersen’s behavioral model of health care utilization in a decentralized program to examine the use of antenatal care in rural western Ethiopia," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(1), pages 1-18, January.
    14. Verma, Asmita & Pandey, Ekta & Ramanathan, Ahalya & Saluja, Nitin, 2015. "Impact of Janani SurakshaYojana (JSY): A study across two Delhi hospitals," MPRA Paper 109995, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 15 Oct 2017.
    15. Linze Li & Chengsheng Jiang & Raghu Murtugudde & Xin-Zhong Liang & Amir Sapkota, 2021. "Global Population Exposed to Extreme Events in the 150 Most Populated Cities of the World: Implications for Public Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-11, February.
    16. Matsuoka, Sadatoshi & Aiga, Hirotsugu & Rasmey, Lon Chan & Rathavy, Tung & Okitsu, Akiko, 2010. "Perceived barriers to utilization of maternal health services in rural Cambodia," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(2-3), pages 255-263, May.
    17. Hirose, Atsumi & Borchert, Matthias & Niksear, Homa & Alkozai, Ahmad Shah & Cox, Jonathan & Gardiner, Julian & Osmani, Khadija Ruina & Filippi, Véronique, 2011. "Difficulties leaving home: A cross-sectional study of delays in seeking emergency obstetric care in Herat, Afghanistan," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(7), pages 1003-1013.
    18. Kibballi Madhukeshwar Akshaya & Siddharudha Shivalli, 2017. "Birth preparedness and complication readiness among the women beneficiaries of selected rural primary health centers of Dakshina Kannada district, Karnataka, India," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(8), pages 1-15, August.
    19. Nicholas Apreh Siaw & Samuel Kwofie, 2016. "Assessment of the Effects of the Free Maternal Health Policy on Maternal Health: A Case Study of New Juaben Municipality, Koforidua, Ghana," International Journal of Business and Social Research, MIR Center for Socio-Economic Research, vol. 6(7), pages 52-62, July.
    20. Nancy A Scott & Taryn Vian & Jeanette L Kaiser & Thandiwe Ngoma & Kaluba Mataka & Elizabeth G Henry & Godfrey Biemba & Mary Nambao & Davidson H Hamer, 2018. "Listening to the community: Using formative research to strengthen maternity waiting homes in Zambia," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(3), pages 1-16, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0222643. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.