Socioeconomic Inequalities in the Use of Maternal Health Care Services in Nigeria

Mary O. Obiyan and Abhishek Kumar

SAGE Open, 2015, vol. 5, issue 4, 2158244015614070

Abstract: This article examines the socioeconomic inequalities in the use of antenatal care and medical assistance at delivery in Nigeria, using the multi-rounds of the cross-sectional Nigerian Demographic Health Survey conducted between 1990 and 2008. The analyses include only women aged 15 to 49 with at least one live birth in the past 3 years preceding the surveys date. The socioeconomic indicators selected were household wealth index and women’s level of education. The results indicate that the use of antenatal care has stagnated while medical assistance at delivery has increased sluggishly in Nigeria during 1990 to 2008. Stark socioeconomic differences in utilization of antenatal care and medical assistance at delivery services exist with growing inequalities in utilization across household wealth and women’s level of education. Despite existing maternal health promotion initiatives in the country, the use of antenatal care and medical assistance at delivery is disproportionately lower among the poor and uneducated women.

Keywords: antenatal care; medical assistance at delivery; concentration index; Nigeria; sub-Saharan Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:sagope:v:5:y:2015:i:4:p:2158244015614070

DOI: 10.1177/2158244015614070

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