Maternal Health-Seeking Behaviour and Under-Five Mortality in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Under-five mortality remains a major public health challenge in sub-Saharan Africa. Zimbabwe is one of the countries in the region that failed to achieve Millennium Developmental Goal 4 in 2015. The objective of this study was to examine the extent to which maternal health-seeking behaviour prior to and during pregnancy and post-delivery influences the likelihood of under-five mortality among Zimbabwean children. The study was cross-sectional and data were extracted from the 2010/11 Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey (ZDHS). The study sample comprised 5155 children who were born five years preceding the 2010/11 ZDHS to a sample of 4128 women of reproductive age (15-49 years). Cox Proportional Hazard regression modelling was used to examine the relationship between maternal health-seeking behaviour and under-five mortality. The results showed that maternal health-seeking behaviour factors are associated with the risk of dying during childhood. Children born to mothers who had ever used contraceptives (HR: 0.38, CI 0.28-0.51) had a lower risk of dying during childhood compared with children born to mothers who had never used any contraceptive method. The risk of under-five mortality among children who had a postnatal check-up within two months after birth (HR: 0.36, CI 0.23-0.56) was lower than that of children who did not receive postnatal care. Small birth size (HR: 1.70, CI 1.20-2.41) and higher birth order (2+) increased the risk of under-five mortality. Good maternal health-seeking behaviour practices at the three critical stages around childbirth have the potential to reduce under-five mortality. Therefore, public health programmes should focus on influencing health-seeking behaviour among women and removing obstacles to effective maternal health-seeking behaviour in Zimbabwe.

The healthcare seeking behaviour of adult patients with asthma at Chitungwiza Central Hospital, Zimbabwe

“…A study by Kuuire et al in Ghana showed that patients who are poor were less likely to seek health care [5]. Several other studies [7][8][9][10] on health care seeking behaviours have been conducted in Zimbabwe, but none focused on asthma. These studies have reported that religion, distance to health care facility, health care worker attitudes towards patients and work, the availability and affordability of medication, patients' knowledge about their conditions were associated with delays in seeking health care services [7][8][9][10].…”

Impact of High-Risk Fertility Behaviour on Under-five Mortality in Asia and Africa: Evidence from Demographic and Health Surveys

“…This finding contradicts the dominant view that suggests that higher birth order increases the risk of child mortality [52,[65][66][67][68]. Some studies have shown that the risk of underfive mortality increases with the increased birth order of two [69][70][71][72], while some other studies find that the risk of mortality begins to increase only when birth order is ≥4 [54,73,74].…”

Impact of High-Risk Fertility Behaviour on Under-five Mortality in Asia and Africa: Evidence from Demographic and Health Surveys

“…This finding contradicts the dominant view that suggests that higher birth order increases the risk of child mortality [55,[69][70][71][72]. Some studies have shown that the risk of underfive mortality increases with the increased birth order of two [73][74][75][76], while some other studies find that the risk of mortality begins to increase only when birth order is ≥4 [57,77,78].…”