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Abstract:
This study assessed the relationship between
women’s empowerment and the use of antenatal
care (ANC) services in five Southeast Asian
(ASEAN) countries. The data used in the study
are from the most recent Demographic and
Health Surveys (DHS) conducted in Cambodia
(2014), Indonesia (2012), Myanmar (2016), the
Philippines (2013), and Timor-Leste (2009).
The focus of the analysis was on currently
married women who gave birth within the last
5 years before the survey. The two main
outcomes were the number of ANC visits they
made (four or more compared with none to
three), and the timing of the first ANC visit
(within the first trimester or later in the
pregnancy). Four composite women’s
empowerment variables were created from 17
indicators: (1) labor force participation;
(2) disagreement with reasons for wife
beating; (3) decision-making power over
household issues; and (4) knowledge level
(based on education and media exposure).
Analysis used logistic regression with
adjustment for complex sampling design.
Overall, results differed among the five
countries. Labor force participation was
significantly associated with number of ANC
visits in Cambodia, Philippines, and Timor-
Leste. Disagreement with reasons for wife
beating and women’s knowledge level were each
independently associated with number of ANC
visits in Cambodia, Indonesia, and Myanmar.
Women’s decision-making power was associated
with number of ANC visits in Cambodia and
Indonesia.
The association of women’s empowerment
variables with timing of the first ANC visit
was not as evident as the association with
number of visits. Labor force participation
was significantly associated with attending
ANC in the first trimester in Cambodia and
Philippines. Disagreement with reasons for
wife beating was significantly associated
with early ANC visit only in Timor-Leste.
Women’s knowledge level was associated with
early first ANC visit only in Cambodia, and
women’s decision-making power was associated
with early first ANC visit only in
Philippines.
There was no difference between adult and
adolescent mothers in the association between
women’s empowerment and use of ANC, except in
two cases. In Cambodia, adolescent mothers
with medium knowledge had lower odds of
attending four or more ANC visits compared
with adult mothers with poor knowledge; and
in Myanmar, adolescent mothers with high
labor force participation had higher odds of
attending the first ANC visit early compared
with the reference group of adult mothers
with low labor force participation.
Women's Empowerment and the Use of Antenatal Care Services in Southeast Asian Countries (PDF, 633K)