Socio-demographic factors influencing utilization of maternal health care services in India

Background: Maternal mortality remains a major public health problem in low and middle-income countries. Adequate utilization of maternal health care services could be an effective means for reducing maternal mortality. Objective: This study aims to examine the socio-demographic factors of maternal health care utilization among Indian women. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using the data from the 2015-2016 National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) in India. A total of 190,898 ever-married women who had at least one live birth in the past five years preceding the survey were utilized for this study. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed for the analysis of the data. Results: Our study has indicated that educational attainment of women and household wealth status are the most significant predictors of maternal health care utilization. Other important socio-demographic factors include rural-urban residence, caste, religion, women's age, age at marriage, exposure to mass media and region. Conclusion: Our study has found that socio-demographic factors play a significant role in determining utilization of maternal health care services in India. Therefore, policymaker and programme administrators should address socio-economic and demographic vulnerabilities of women to improve the use of maternal health care services, which eventually could reduce the risk of maternal morbidity and mortality.