Comparison of Maternal Health Care Utilization between Kerala and Haryana: An Evidence from DLHS-IV

Maternal health is a challenging issue in health development because females, especially those are in the reproductive age group are regarded as one of the weakest parts of the population in a situation of diseases and physical condition. Every one minute, one woman dies from complications of pregnancy to childbirth. Maternal mortality and morbidity represent one of the broadest health gaps between developed and developing nations. A comparative analysis of the maternal health care utilization has been done between Kerala and Haryana to identify the effect of different socio-demographic variables. In this paper, antenatal care, delivery care and post-natal care as a dependent variable and various socio-demographic indicators as an independent variable have been used. And data from the fourth round of District Level Household Survey (DLHS IV) conducted during 2012-13 has been used. For the statistical analysis bivariate analysis and chi-square test have been used. This paper found that determinants of maternal health care services are not the same across two states, and women education has the strongest significant positive factors among another background factor for enhancing the maternal health care utilization.