Factors associated with the utilization of maternal health care services among Lodha women in West Bengal, India.

The objective of the present study was to find out the trends in utilization of maternal health care services by the Lodha women. Furthermore, attempt has also been made to identify the factors contributing to the utilization of maternal health services. The study has been conducted among the Lodha women residing in the district of Jhargram, West Bengal, India. Participants were married, aged between 15 and 44 years, have experienced at least one pregnancy during the last five year period, prior to the date of study. Pretested structured questionnaires were used to obtain the socio-demographic characteristics and utilization of maternal health care services. Three components of utilization of maternal healthcare services were measured: antenatal care (ANC), skilled birth attendants and post-natal care (PNC). Result shows that 88.7% of the participants received ANC service, 62.7% used SBA and 32.0% received PNC service. Bivariate analyses found significant association between utilization of maternal health care services and socio-demographic factors. Multivariate analysis revealed that apart from individual level factors (such as, age, education, parity, total number of pregnancy and women autonomy), supply-side/contextual level factors [such as availability of health care providers (ASHA worker), availability of transport facility and distance to sub centre] have a significant bearing on the utilization of maternal health care services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]