Determinants of antenatal care utilization in Iran

Mohammad Mirzaie, University of Tehran
Mohammad J. Abbasi-Shavazi , University of Tehran
Abolghasem Pourreza, Tehran University of Medical Sciences
Aliyar Ahmadi, Shiraz University

Motivating women towards reproductive health care utilization has been one of the most important agendas for international organizations. Despite the importance of reproductive and maternal health care utilization, some Iranian women are not currently using these types of services. In this study determinants of the low interest for maternal health care utilization are investigated according to the data collected in Iran’s Demographic and Health Survey. The study indicates that around 9 percent of total pregnant women do not use any health care services. Considering the huge population of pregnant women in Iran, this includes a large number of women involving in the problem. In addition, among women interested in using the health cares, a significant proportion suffers from low quality and quantity of the services. The study indicates that, maternal health care utilization is related inversely to age and parity; while positively to education, economic index, and knowledge about contraceptives. Education and economic index are the only two important determinants which maintain their significance in all models of multivariate analysis.