Investigation of some factors associated with utilization of maternal health care services by adolescent mothers in Tanzania

Abstract

This study examined some factors associated with the utilization of maternal health care services
by adolescent mothers (15-19 years) in Tanzania in order to provide advice accordingly. The study
used cross-sectional study of adolescent mothers aged 15-19 years using Demographic Health
Survey and Malaria indicator Survey 2015/16 data. The dependent variables were number of
antenatal care visits, the place where an adolescent mother delivered and post-natal checkup
(adolescent mother’s health checking after being discharged or after a home delivery). The
independent variables were birth order, education level of a mother, marital status of a mother,
media exposure, wealth index, distance to health facility. Multiple binary logistic regression was
used to examine an association between each dependent variable and their respective independent
variables. Data was analyzed using IBM SPSS statistics and STATA. This study used 550
adolescent mothers in the analysis. Majority of the adolescent mothers had less than four Antenatal
Care (ANC) visits (53.5%), while 68.5% of adolescent mothers delivered at a health facility.
Adolescent mothers with two or more children had less odds of having at least four ANCs
compared to those with one child, whereas adolescent mothers with at least secondary education
had greater odds of delivering at a health facility compared to those who had no education.
Adolescent mothers who had at least four antenatal care visits and those who are married had
greater odds of checking their health after being discharged compared to adolescent mothers who
had less than 4 ANCs and single adolescent mothers. It was advised that provision of maternal
education to young girls on the importance of safe delivery and health checking after delivery is
very important to reduce adolescent maternal morbidity and mortality in the country.

Keywords: Adolescent; Maternal Health; Logistic regression; Chi-square