Empowerment, intimate partner violence and skilled birth attendance among women in rural Uganda
Loading...
Date
2016
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Reproductive health
Abstract
There is limited research on how the empowerment of women and intimate partner violence (IPV)
are associated with skilled birth attendance (SBA) among rural women in Uganda. Therefore, the aim of this paper
was to investigate the association between women’s empowerment, their experience of IPV and SBA in rural
Uganda.
Methods: Using data from the Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS), we selected 857 rural women
who were in union, had given birth in the last 5 years preceding the survey and were selected for the domestic
violence (DV) module. Frequency distributions were used to describe the background characteristics of the women
and their partners. Pearson’s chi-squared (χ2) tests were used to investigate the associations between SBA and
women’s empowerment; and partners’ and women’s socio-demographic factors including sexual violence.
Multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to examine the association between SBA and explanatory
variables.
Results: More than half (55 %) of the women delivered under the supervision of skilled birth attendant. Women’s
empowerment with respect to participation in household decision-making, property (land and house) (co)ownership,
IPV, and sexual empowerment did not positively predict SBA among rural women in Uganda. Key predictors of SBA
were household wealth status, partners’ education, ANC attendance and parity.
Conclusions: For enhancement of SBA in rural areas, there is a need to encourage a more comprehensive ANC
attendance irrespective of number of children a woman has; and design interventions to enhance household wealth
and promote men’s education.
Description
Keywords
Empowerment, Intimate Partner Violence, Skilled Birth Attendance, Rural, Africa
Citation
Kwagala, B., Nankinga, O., Wandera, SO, Ndugga, P., & Kabagenyi, A. (2016). Empowerment, intimate partner violence and skilled birth attendance among women in rural Uganda. Reproductive health , 13 (1), 1-9. DOI 10.1186/s12978-016-0167-3