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ASSESSING THE UTILIZATION OF MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH CARE AMONG MARRIED ADOLESCENT WOMEN: EVIDENCE FROM INDIA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 September 2011

LUCKY SINGH ,
RAJESH KUMAR RAI  and
PRASHANT KUMAR SINGH
LUCKY SINGH
Affiliation:
International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Deonar, Mumbai, India
RAJESH KUMAR RAI
Affiliation:
Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Hebrew University-Hadassah, Jerusalem, Israel
PRASHANT KUMAR SINGH
Affiliation:
International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Deonar, Mumbai, India
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Summary

This study explores the prevalence and factors associated with the utilization of maternal and child health care services among married adolescent women in India using the third round of the National Family Health Survey (2005–06). The findings suggest that the utilization of maternal and child health care services among adolescent women is far from satisfactory in India. A little over 10% of adolescent women utilized antenatal care, about 50% utilized safe delivery services and about 41% of the children of adolescent women received full immunization. Large differences by urban–rural residence, educational attainment, religion, economic status and region were evident. Both gross effect and fixed effect binary logit models yielded statistically significant socioeconomic and demographic factors. Women's education, wealth quintile and region are the most important determinants for the utilization of maternal and child health care services. Health care programmes should focus more on educating adolescents, providing financial support, creating awareness and counselling households with married adolescent women. Moreover, there should be substantial financial assistance for the provision of delivery and child care for married women below the age of 19 years.

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Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 44 , Issue 1 , January 2012 , pp. 1 - 26
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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