article · PLoS ONE
A community-based study in Debretabor, northwest Ethiopia, examined married women's decision-making autonomy regarding household affairs and maternal and neonatal healthcare utilisation. Among 730 surveyed married women, approximately three-quarters demonstrated high decision-making autonomy across their health, newborn care, and broader socio-economic issues. Within this autonomous group, more than half completed at least four antenatal visits and delivered in a health facility, while over seventy percent received postnatal check-ups. Furthermore, eighty percent of autonomous women practiced appropriate healthcare-seeking behaviour for sick newborns, although less than a third had adequate knowledge of neonatal danger signs. Statistical analysis identified that being older than 35 years, earning a higher household income, having an involved husband, and possessing knowledge of neonatal danger signs were all significantly associated with higher decision-making autonomy.
Maternal and neonatal survival depends heavily on timely access to essential medical services. Understanding the drivers of female autonomy, including financial security, maternal education, and spousal engagement, allows public health programmes to design targeted community initiatives. These insights help health systems encourage facility deliveries, regular postnatal check-ups, and rapid intervention when infants show critical danger signs.
The abstract does not indicate an application pathway.
AI-generated from the published abstract. Always read the original work before citing.
BACKGROUND: Women's decision-making autonomy is very crucial for the improvement of women empowerment, and maternal, neonatal, and child healthcare utilization. As time immemorial, Ethiopian culture is largely gender stratified, and the position of women is subordinate to men in various household and health-seeking decision-making matters. However, there is a dearth of empirical evidence on women's decision-making autonomy, especially in the household and on maternal and newborn healthcare utilization. Therefore, this study assessed married women's decision-making autonomy in the household and on maternal and neonatal healthcare utilization and associated factors in Debretabor, Northwest Ethiopia. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from October 1st to 30th, 2019. A two-stage sampling technique was used to select 730 married women. Data were collected using a structured, pretested, and interviewer-administered questionnaire. Data were entered into EPI INFO 7 and analyzed by SPSS version 23. Multivariable logistic regression model was fitted to identify factors associated with women's decision-making autonomy in the household and maternal and neonatal healthcare utilization. The adjusted odds ratio with its 95% confidence interval was computed to determine the level of significance at a p-value of ≤ 0.05. RESULTS: A total of 730 married women were included in the analysis. Thus, three-fourths (75.1%) of women had higher decision-making autonomy on their health, neonatal health, and other socio-economic aspects. Besides, the proportion of four and above antenatal visits, delivery at a health facility, postnatal checkup, knowledge of neonatal danger signs, and appropriate health-seeking practices for sick newborns among autonomous women were 52.1%, 56.1%, 71.4%, 32%, and 80% respectively. Age greater than 35 years old (AOR = 2.08; 95% CI: 1.19, 3.62), monthly income of > 5000 ETB (AOR = 3.1; 95% CI: 1.36, 7.07), husband involvement (AOR = 2.36; 95% CI: 1.55, 3.43), and adequate knowledge of neonatal danger signs (AOR = 2.11; 95% CI: 1.4, 3.2) were factors independently associated with women's decision-making autonomy on maternal and neonatal healthcare utilization and other socio-economic affairs. CONCLUSION: Our findings show that women's decision-making autonomy in the household and maternal and neonatal healthcare utilization was optimal. Increasing household income level, promotion of husband's involvement starting from the prenatal period, and increasing women's knowledge of maternal and neonatal danger signs will have a great role in the improvement of women's decision-making autonomy.
This page summarises published work. The authoritative version sits with the publisher.
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0255021
Is something wrong with this record? Report it or request removal.
Discussion
Have you built on this work, tried to replicate it, or seen it applied in practice? Share what you know. Verified researchers and MARATTO™ domain experts can open a discussion, and any member can reply. Contributions are reviewed before they appear.
No discussion yet. Open the first thread.
New to MARATTO™? Create a free account.
