Health seeking behaviour of pregnant women in Banke District, Nepal

The study focuses on pregnant women health seeking behavior and access opportunities to maternal health care service in Banke district, Nepal. Social structure, health delivery system, and barriers influence such behavior and opportunities. The objectives of this study are: to study the health seeking behavior of pregnant women; including their socio-demographic characteristics, their social structures, and influence to modern health care delivery system structure and to examine the barriers to maternal health care services and their consequences for the choice of the health care services and the role of government to overcome these barriers To understand the complex nature of pregnant women in a social structure, structuralist and structurationist approach and furthermore, other models are used in this thesis. Due to the nature of this study, 15 pregnant women as primary informants and12 key informants such as nurses, doctors, governmental officers, and Non- governmental organizations workers were interviewed. These informants were purposively sampled. Semi-structure interviewed was conducted and supplemented by observational study at their home environment and hospital or clinic. The use and choice of the health care service for pregnant women are highly influenced by significant other or head of the household and the capacity of health services. Furthermore, there are other barriers that discourage pregnant women to use maternal health services such as knowledge, social norms and values, and other barriers as cultural, health care, geographical and political. However, free delivery and incentives schemes in Nepal have enabled pregnant women to use maternal health services. Nevertheless, the country face challenges to achieve target 5 improve maternal health; 5.A: reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio and 5.B: access to reproductive health, set up by United Nations Millennium Development Goals and beyond 2015