Women’s Status and its Association with Antenatal Care Use: A Cross Sectional Study Conducted In Gilgit Baltistan

According to the WHO, more than 287,000 women died during pregnancy and after childbirth in 2020. Sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia are at high risk in maternal mortality rate. In Pakistan, the maternal mortality rate is 186 per 100,000 live births, and 49% of women still don’t visit for adequate antenatal care. Socio-cultural factors have a critical role in accessing maternal healthcare services. This study investigated the association between women’s autonomy and utilization of maternal healthcare services in Gilgit-Baltistan. In the study, a cross-sectional survey design was adopted, and multi-stage sampling techniques were employed. A total of 928 samples were selected from the four districts of the Baltistan division. The results show that women and their husband’s education strongly associated with the utilization of antenatal care services (OR, 4.230, CI: 95% 2.761-6.479 with P-value .000), Women’s involvement in decision making about reproductive health related matters also significantly associated with women receiving antenatal care services (OR 5.082, CI: 95% 3.366-7.673 with Pvalue-.000). Keeping in view the current findings it strongly recommended that state agencies and non-governmental organization should focus on female literacy and women empowerment