Pregnancy Intention, Women's Autonomy and Use of Maternal Health Services in South Western Ethiopia

Yohannes D. Wado, Jimma University
Mesganaw F. Afework, Addis Ababa University

This study examines the potential importance of Pregnancy intention and women’s autonomy in the use of maternal health services in Ethiopia. We hypothesized that unintended pregnancy and women’s decision making autonomy influence use of maternal health services independent of maternal socio-demographic characteristics. Data for this study comes from a survey conducted among 1370 women with a recent birth in a Demographic Surveillance Site in south western Ethiopia. Results show that both unintended pregnancy and women’s participation in household decision making are significantly associated with use of antenatal care services, after controlling for other socio-demographic factors. However, for delivery care, the association was attenuated once we controlled for the effects of other socio-demographic variables. Factors other than unintended pregnancy and women’s autonomy such as women's education, urban residence and distance from health facilities were found to be important determinants of antenatal and delivery care service utilization.