Determinants of maternal health care utilization the case of Lindi rural and Mtwara rural

This study aimed to investigate determinants of maternal health care utilization taking Lindi rural and Mtwara rural as a case study. The study used household survey data from Economic Research Bureau at University of Dar es Salaam in 2008. In determining these factors, a number of household's socio-economic and demographic characteristics were regressed on the antenatal care, postnatal care and place of delivery using logistic regression model. The obtained results revealed that education of the mother. decision maker and traveling time were the major determinants of MHC for both regions. The study found some determinants were significant when data was separated for individual regions. This includes education of the father and age of the mother. From the descriptive analysis, it was found antenatal care was highly utilized, followed by equal chances between delivery at home and health institution delivery. Postnatal care was poorly utilized. Middle age women went for less than four times for antenatal visits than young women. There was a slight difference between home delivery and health institution delivery on age of the mother. Based on the findings the study advice postnatal care needs to be addressed because it is still underutilized in the community. The target should be on women who are poor, less educated from rural areas.