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Patterned remittances enhance women's health-related autonomy.

ABSTRACT: The consequences for women "left behind" by virtue of temporary male migration are mixed. On the one hand, concomitant changes in fertility, participation in the labor force, and social norms are often associated with increased independence for women. On the other hand, women left behind can be vulnerable to increased dependency on members of their husbands' family or face limited access to social institutions. These shifts in women's capacity for decision making can have important implications for their health and well-being. Focusing on the state of Kerala in southern India, we examine the conditions under which the remittances that migrants send home have an impact on the health of women left behind. Specifically, we assess the extent to which the timing of remittance sending can support women's autonomy and improve their ability to make autonomous healthcare decisions. We use evidence from migrant households in Kerala, a region deeply engrained in the world labor migration system for more than five decades. Analysis is conducted with data from the 2016 wave of the Kerala Migration Survey (KMS), a representative household survey, and paired with in-depth qualitative interviews with women in Kerala whose husbands and other family members have migrated to the Gulf. We show that the positive effect of remittances on women's autonomy manifests primarily through the timing of remittance receipt, not the amount of money remitted. Regular remittances are associated with higher levels of autonomy than remittances received at irregular intervals, net of amount remitted. This finding challenges the usual emphasis on remittance volume as the driving factor of social and behavioral change in sending communities. Analytical efforts should be refocused on the social-interactional component of remittance sending and how these interactions can impact women's health and autonomy.

SUBMITTER: Green SH

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6978472 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Patterned remittances enhance women's health-related autonomy.

Green Sharon H SH Wang Charlotte C Ballakrishnen Swethaa S SS Brueckner Hannah H Bearman Peter P

SSM - population health 20190131

The consequences for women "left behind" by virtue of temporary male migration are mixed. On the one hand, concomitant changes in fertility, participation in the labor force, and social norms are often associated with increased independence for women. On the other hand, women left behind can be vulnerable to increased dependency on members of their husbands' family or face limited access to social institutions. These shifts in women's capacity for decision making can have important implications ...[more]

PMID: 31993477

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Project description:BackgroundLike all health care consumers, pregnant women have the right to make autonomous decisions about their medical care. However, this right has created confusion for a number of maternity care stakeholders, particularly in situations when a woman's decision may lead to increased risk of harm to the fetus. Little is known about care providers' perceptions of this situation, or of their legal accountability for outcomes experienced in pregnancy and birth. This paper examined maternity care providers' attitudes and beliefs towards women's right to make autonomous decisions during pregnancy and birth, and the legal responsibility of professionals for maternal and fetal outcomes.MethodsAttitudes and beliefs around women's autonomy and health professionals' legal accountability were measured in a sample of 336 midwives and doctors from both public and private health sectors in Queensland, Australia, using a questionnaire available online and in paper format. Student's t-test was used to compare midwives' and doctors' responses.ResultsBoth maternity care professionals demonstrated a poor understanding of their own legal accountability, and the rights of the woman and her fetus. Midwives and doctors believed the final decision should rest with the woman; however, each also believed that the needs of the woman may be overridden for the safety of the fetus. Doctors believed themselves to be ultimately legally accountable for outcomes experienced in pregnancy and birth, despite the legal position that all health care professionals are responsible only for adverse outcomes caused by their own negligent actions. Interprofessional differences were evident, with midwives and doctors significantly differing in their responses on five of the six items.ConclusionsMaternity care professionals inconsistently supported women's right to autonomous decision making during pregnancy and birth. This finding is further complicated by care providers' poor understanding of legal accountability for outcomes experienced in pregnancy and birth. The findings of this study support the need for guidelines on decision making in pregnancy and birth for maternity care professionals, and for recognition of interprofessional differences in beliefs around the rights of the woman, her fetus and health professionals in order to facilitate collaborative practice.

Project description:ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to determine the association between women's decision-making power and utilisation of maternal healthcare services (MHS) among Bangladeshi women.SettingsThis is a nationally representative survey that encompassed Dhaka, Rajshahi, Rangpur, Chittagong, Khulna, Barisal and Sylhet in Bangladesh. Sample households were selected by a two-stage stratification technique. First, 207 clusters in urban areas and 393 in rural areas were selected for 600 enumeration areas with proportional probability. In the second stage, on average 30 households were selected systematically from the enumeration areas. Finally, 17?989 households were selected for the survey of which 96% were interviewed successfully.ParticipantsCross-sectional data on 4309 non-pregnant women were collected from Bangladesh demographic and health survey 2014. Decision-making status on respondent's own healthcare, large household purchases, having a say on child's healthcare and visiting to family or relatives were included in the analysis.ResultsPrevalence of at least four antenatal attendance, facility delivery and postnatal check-up were respectively 32.6% (95% CI 31.2 to 34), 40.6% (95% CI 39.13 to 42.07) and 66.3% (95% CI 64.89 to 67.71). Compared with women who could make decisions alone, women in the urban areas who had to decide on their healthcare with husband/partner had 20% (95% CI 0.794 to 1.799) higher odds of attending at least four antenatal visits and those in rural areas had 35% (95% CI 0.464 to 0.897) lower odds of attending at least four antenatal visits. Women in urban and rural areas had respectively 43% (95% CI 0.941 to 2.169) and 28% (95% CI 0.928 to 1.751) higher odds of receiving postnatal check-up when their health decisions were made jointly with their husband/partner.ConclusionNeither making decisions alone, nor deciding jointly with husband/partner was always positively associated with the utilisation of all three types of MHS. This study concludes that better spousal cooperation on household and health issues could lead to higher utilisation of MHS services.

Project description:BackgroundDespite various international efforts initiated to improve maternal health, more than half a million women worldwide die each year as a result of complications arising from pregnancy and childbirth. This research was guided by the following questions: 1) How does women's autonomy influence the choice of place of delivery in resource-poor urban settings? 2) Does its effect vary by household wealth? and 3) To what extent does women's autonomy mediate the relationship between women's education and use of health facility for delivery?MethodsThe data used is from a maternal health study carried out in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya. A total of 1,927 women (out of 2,482) who had a pregnancy outcome in 2004-2005 were selected and interviewed. Seventeen variable items on autonomy were used to construct women's decision-making, freedom of movement, and overall autonomy. Further, all health facilities serving the study population were assessed with regard to the number, training and competency of obstetric staff; services offered; physical infrastructure; and availability, adequacy and functional status of supplies and other essential equipment for safe delivery, among others. A total of 25 facilities were surveyed.ResultsWhile household wealth, education and demographic and health covariates had strong relationships with place of delivery, the effects of women's overall autonomy, decision-making and freedom of movement were rather weak. Among middle to least poor households, all three measures of women's autonomy were associated with place of delivery, and in the expected direction; whereas among the poorest women, they were strong and counter-intuitive. Finally, the study showed that autonomy may not be a major mediator of the link between education and use of health services for delivery.ConclusionThe paper argues in favor of broad actions to increase women's autonomy both as an end and as a means to facilitate improved reproductive health outcomes. It also supports the call for more appropriate data that could further support this line of action. It highlights the need for efforts to improve households' livelihoods and increase girls' schooling to alter perceptions of the value of skilled maternal health care.

Dataset Information

Patterned remittances enhance women's health-related autonomy.

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Patterned remittances enhance women's health-related autonomy.

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