Examining the mechanisms by which women’s status and empowerment affect skilled birth attendant use in Senegal: a structural equation modeling approach

摘要

BackgroundDespite the reduction in maternal deaths globally, maternal mortality rates remain unacceptably high, particularly in some regions of the world. In sub-Saharan Africa, maternal mortality rates have even increased recently, with 201,000 deaths in 2015 as compared to 179,000 in 2013. Use of a skilled birth attendant (SBA) at delivery has remained low, despite evidence of the effectiveness of SBAs in reducing maternal deaths. Women’s empowerment is increasingly recognized as a key determinant of maternal health care-seeking and outcomes, yet empirical examinations of the linkages between women’s empowerment and delivery care use are particularly limited, especially from sub-Saharan Africa.