Postnatal care utilisation among women with disabilities: through the lens of intersectionality of disability and socioeconomic status

Résumé fourni par la source

BACKGROUND: Postnatal care (PNC) is a key to ending preventable maternal deaths among women with disabilities (WwD). OBJECTIVE: To assess socioeconomic inequality in PNC utilisation through a disability lens. METHODS: A weighted sample of 59,723 women from Demographic and Health Surveys in 10 low- and middle-income countries was included. Disability status, the primary exposure variable, was measured using the Washington Group Short Set on Functioning. PNC was measured as the percentage of women who received a postnatal check within two days after giving birth. A generalised linear model with a Poisson distribution and log link function was employed to estimate the adjusted prevalence ratio (aPR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). FINDINGS: PNC was received by 57.7% of women, 53.0% of WwD and 58.4% of women without disabilities. Women with moderate disability (aPR = 0.92, 95% CI [0.89, 0.95]), women with severe disability (aPR = 0.86, 95% CI [0.80, 0.93]), women facing healthcare barriers (aPR = 0.96, CI [0.94, 0.98]) and rural residents (aPR = 0.92, CI [0.89, 0.95]) were less likely to receive PNC. Women from the richest households (aPR = 1.12, CI [1.07, 1.17]); who had four or more antenatal visits (aPR = 2.21, CI [2.06, 2.37]), media exposure (aPR = 1.19, CI [1.16, 1.22]), and caesarean delivery (aPR = 1.35, CI [1.32, 1.38]) were more likely to receive PNC. CONCLUSION: The findings indicate a significant disparity in PNC utilisation, with a higher proportion of WwD not using PNC. Double-disadvantaged women-that is, being from a poor household, having no education, living in rural areas, or having problems accessing healthcare, in addition to having a disability-are significantly left behind. The findings signal the need to consider the intersectionality of disability status and social determinants of health when developing guidelines and policies for PNC and other maternal health services.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.