Utilization Of Maternal Health Care Services Among Young Women In Gr A: Evidence From The 2014 Ghana Demographic And Health Survey.

Abstract

Introduction: Though maternal health has been an important global public health concern, maternal mortality is still globally, especially in low-and middle-income countries like Ghana. Using Anderson and Newsman's framework, this study sought to examine the factors associated with maternal health service utilization among young women aged 15- 24 in Ghana. Methodology: The study analysed data on 920 young women aged 15-24. Data analysis was done using Stata version 14.2. Chi-square test and binary logistic regression models were used to measure association between maternal health service usage and some independent variables at significance level of p-value <0.05. Results: Prevalence of antenatal care, health facility delivery and postnatal care were 83.3%, 72.7% and 69.0% respectively. Women in the Northern, Volta, Eastern and Western regions; as well as rural areas, women in the poor and middle wealth category had lower odds of antenatal attendance. Women aged 20-24, those with secondary/higher level of education, Christian and Moslem women, women with parity one and women who have subscribed to NHIS and young women who indicated that distance to health facility is not a big problem had higher odds of health facility delivery. ' . In terms of PNC uptake young women in the Brong Ahafo region, Eastern region, Central Region and Western region had lower odds of PNC uptake and young women with parity one, had lower odds of PNC attendance compared to those with parity three or more. In terms of education, those with secondary/higher level of education also had higher odds of PNC attendance compared to those with no education. Finally, young women who are exposed to radio had higher odds of PNC attendance compared to those who are not exposed to radio. Conclusion: There is relatively high utilization of ANC, skilled delivery and PNC among young women in Ghana. Both individual factors such as age, educational level, religion, parity, wealth status, NHIS subscription, exposure to family planning messages, pregnancy intentions and contextual factors such as region of residence and distance to health facility are associated with maternal health service utilization. Therefore, Ghana Health service, Non-Governmental organisations and all stakeholders seeking to improve the health of young women and women in general should consider educating women on the need to take up maternal health services. This will go a long way to reduce maternal mortality and also improve child health to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals on maternal and child health.