Maternal Health Service Utilization and Women’s Health Care Decision-Making Autonomy in Ethiopia

Maternal health service utilization and its association with women’s health care decision-making autonomy were examined from a nationally representative sample. Adequate use of maternal health services is critical in maintaining the well-being and health of mothers and prevent maternal and neonatal mortalities. Women’s health care decision-making autonomy has been cited to influence the uptake of maternal services among women in resource-poor countries. A secondary data collected in 2016 by Demographic and Health Survey, Ethiopia, was used. Three maternal health services measurement indicators and their associations with women health decision-making autonomy were examined (number of prenatal visits, birth attended by skilled health personnel, and delivery at health facilities) from a sample of women aged 15-49 years (n=11023) were included. SPSS ver. 27 was used to analyze the data after taking into account survey design effects and sampling weights. Results showed that maternal health utilization services in the study population was inadequate. However, the association between women’s health care decision-making autonomy and births attended by skilled health care professionals and birthing at health care facilities were significant. The significant and positive association between women’s health care decision-making autonomy and the two critical maternal health services (access to skilled birth attendants and delivery at health facilities) may indicate that enhancing women’s autonomy could have a potential to reduce maternal mortalities among Ethiopian women.