Browsing by Author "Kabongo, Muika"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Accessibility and use of prenatal facilities in the developing world by young mothers aged from fifteen to nineteen years old
    (2013) Kabongo, Muika; Stiegler, Nancy
    Background: Professional health assistance is a significant indicator in monitoring progress towards Millennium Development Goal five to reduce the maternal mortality ratio by three quarters and child mortality by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015. It is also significant that mothers deliver their babies in an appropriate setting, where life saving equipment and hygiene can also help reduce the risk of complications that may cause death or illness to mother and child. But in developing countries access to health services is still an issue. Objective: From a fundamental research view point, this study aims to investigate the determinants of place of delivery and professional health providers by analysing the factors that are likely to influence young mothers’ accessibility and use of prenatal facilities in the developing world. Specifically in Kenya, Ethiopia, Nepal, Bangladesh, Guyana and Haiti. Methodology: Univariet and bivariet analysis were performed to determine a relation or association between dependent and independent variables. Using secondary data from Demographic and Health Survey secondary data requested from the DHS selected between 2005 and 2010, the analysis was performed by means of SPSS software. Bringing together the demographic variables and access and the use of health services related variables, the study captures the differences and similarities across these countries. Results: The study has identified the main factors influencing the use of professional health providers and health facilities according to the variables examined from the DHS. The finding showed the use health facilities for delivery, professional health providers were influenced by economic status of young mothers, level of education, place of residence, religion, marital status, in all six countries. Access to health facilities was much influence availability of transport, the presence of health providers at facilities and availability of drugs at facilities. Family members’ knowledge about the importance of delivering a baby at health facilities was found to be the strongest predictors of use of health facilities for delivery in all six countries. These findings suggest that these factors cited are associated with access and use of professional health providers and health facilities, and should be the target of interventions aimed to increase the use of prenatal facilities and professional health providers among young women in these countries in order to improve maternal and child health in accordance with Millennium Development Goals four and five.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Comparative analysis of the use of professional health providers by young mothers in developing countries: A new frontier for health education
    (AFAHPER-SD, 2016) Kabongo, Muika; Stiegler, Nancy; Kanayo, Ogujiuba
    Childbearing accelerates the risk of maternal and child morbidity and young mothers have a much higher risk of dying from maternal causes. Therefore, understanding the dynamics of young mothers’ use of professional health providers during pregnancy and childbirth in developing countries as well as identifying the socioeconomic factors that influence them is imperative. The paper investigates the relationship between the utilization of professional health providers and socioeconomic influence in Kenya, Ethiopia, Haiti, Bangladesh and Guyana. Both Chi-square and logistic regression models were used on the Demographic and Health Survey data set of the select countries to determine the relationship between young mothers’ characteristics and use of professional health providers. Using bivariate and multivariate analysis, socioeconomic and demographic factors were triangulated to capture the relationships between professional health providers’ utilization and young mothers. Test statistics showed that age and education had a positive, statistically significant relationship with the young mothers’ use of professional health providers for delivery in Kenya, (p=0.01<0.05) in Ethiopia (p=0.01<0.05) and in Haiti (p=0.01<0.05). The results of logistic regression also showed a positive statistical significance between the young mothers’ use of professional health providers and level of education, wealth, and place of residence (p=0.05) for the select countries. Our findings suggest that socioeconomic conditions in the selected countries influence the use of professionals for both prenatal and natal care. In order to improve maternal and child health in accordance with Sustainable Development Goals, emphasis should be placed on providing health education for young women and expanding the knowledge curriculum of professional health providers that attend to them. While recognizing that the health educator has contributions to make on both the micro and macro change levels, a case is made for moving the field of health education further in the broad direction of prenatal and natal care. This would impact positively on the socioeconomic status of women in general.