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ABSTRACT
Gender inequality has been documented as a key driver of negative health outcomes, especially among women. However, studies have not clearly examined the role of gender inequality in maternal health in an African setting. Therefore, the authors of this study examined the role of gender inequality, indicated by lack of female autonomy, in exposing women to maternal health risk. Data were obtained from the 2007 Zambia Demographic and Health Survey on a weighted sample of 3,906 married or partnered women aged 15–49 years. Multivariable analyses revealed that low autonomy in household decision power was associated with maternal health risk (Odds Ratio (OR) = 1.52, p < .001). Autonomy interacted with household wealth showed that respondents who were in the wealthier households and had low autonomy in household decision power (OR = 2.03, p < .05) were more likely to be exposed to maternal health risk than their counterparts who had more autonomy. Efforts to lower women’s exposure to maternal mortality and morbidity in Zambia should involve interventions to alter prevailing gender norms that limit women’s active participation in decisions about their own health during pregnancy and delivery.
Acknowledgments
This article is extracted from a Doctoral Thesis in the Demography and Population Studies programme of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
The support of the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Human Development toward the research is hereby acknowledged. Opinions expressed and conclusions arrived at are those of the authors and not necessarily to be attributed to the Centre of Excellence in Human Development.
Funding
The authors are grateful to the Department of Higher Education and Training grant of the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, and for the financial support to organize the writing retreat at which this article was prepared.