Socioeconomic Determinants of the Use of Antenatal Care Services in Colombia: Exploring the Role of Communities

Luis Miguel Tovar, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Cali
Ana M. Osorio, Universitat de Barcelona and Pontificia Universidad Javeriana-Cali
Katharina Rathmann, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin

The majority of maternal deaths occur in developing countries and they are due to avoidable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. Despite the efforts of the Colombian government to improve maternal health care, it is believed that the country will not reach the Millennium Development Goal to reduce the maternal mortality. This study examines individual and community characteristics associated with the number of antenatal visits. Using data from the 2010 Colombia Demographic and Health Survey (DHS), multilevel logistic models are fitted. We find that mothers living in communities with higher proportion of maternal occupation; lower levels of autonomy and with higher prevalence of women reporting access barriers such as distance, cost of services and distrust in doctors to health care; are less likely to receive the optimal number of prenatal checkups. Our results highlight the importance of including the community context for the design of more effective maternal care policies.