ARTICLE

CULTURAL CHALLENGES FACED BY WOMEN IN ACCESSING MATERNAL HEALTHCARE SERVICES

02 Pages : 11-24

http://dx.doi.org/10.31703/gasr.2023(VI-I).02      10.31703/gasr.2023(VI-I).02      Published : Dec 1

Cultural Challenges Faced By Women in Accessing Maternal Healthcare Services

    Women in Pakistan face numerous cultural challenges in accessing maternal healthcare services. The study aims to see what cultural barriers women face in seeking health care services and decision-making. The objective was to study the challenges, women's autonomy, women's health-seeking behavior, and food taboos, that limit access to women attending healthcare services. Using Exploratory methodology, in-depth interviews were held with 24 such women in Jhang Sayedan Islamabad, in May 2023. Findings suggested that although women do want to receive healthcare services, cultural barriers often make it difficult for such women to access healthcare services and food taboos are sometimes useful, but they sometimes also affect women's health negatively. Other challenges such as lack of knowledge, not having the right to decision-making, limited support, hierarchy, and taboos need to be tackled. Men are crucial in deciding a woman's medical requirements and determining whether they need medical assistance or not.

    Patriarchy Stigma Taboos Gender Barriers Maternal Health Decision Making Women Autonomy Health Seeking Behavior
    (1) Amna Mukhtar
    Graduate, Department of Anthropology, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University (PMAS-Arid), Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
  • Azmat, S. K. (2011). Mobilizing male opinion leaders’ support for family planning to improve maternal health: a theory based qualitative study from Pakistan. Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare, 421-431. https://doi.org/10.2147/JMDH.S24341
  • Cu, A., Meister, S., Lefebvre, B., & Ridde, V. (2021). Assessing healthcare access using Levesque's conceptual framework- a scoping review. International Journal for Equity in Health, 20(116), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-021-01416-3
  • Dadras, O., Dadras, M., Nakayama, T., & Jafari, L. (2022). Women empowerment and access to maternity and reproductive healthcare in Pakistan: cross-validation of a Survey-based Index in Afghanistan (SWEI-A). BMC Women Health, 22(453), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-022-02031-2
  • Ekwere, T. A., & Ekanem, A. M. (2015). Maternal knowledge, food restriction and prevention strategies related to anaemia in pregnancy: a cross-sectional study. International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health, 2(3), 331-338. https://doi.org/10.1177/00469580231167731
  • Gender and health. (2021). Retrieved from World Health Organization: https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/gender-and-health
  • Habib, S. S., Jamal, W. Z., Hassan, S. M., & J.- u.-r. S. (2021). Barriers to Access of Healthcare Services for Rural Women Applying Gender Lens on TB in a Rural District of Sindh, Pakistan. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 1(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph181910102
  • Majrooh, M. A., Hasnain, S., Akram, J., Siddique, A., & Shah, F. (2013). Accessibility of antenatal services at primary healthcare facilities in Punjab, Pakistan. Journal of Pakistan Medical Association, 60(4), 60-66 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0113390
  • Mulenga, E., David, S. A., & Pinehas, L. N. (2018). Taboos, traditional practices and beliefs affecting pregnancy and childbirth in Ohangwena, Oshana and Oshikoto Region: University of Namibia fourth year nursing students’ rural placement experience of 2016, Oshakati campus, Namibia. International Journal of Advanced Nursing Studies, 7(1), 68-71. https://doi.org/10.14419/ijans.v7i1.12165
  • Mumtaz, Z., Salway, S., Shanner, L., & Zaman, S. (2012). Addressing disparities in maternal health care in Pakistan: gender, class and exclusion. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 12(80), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2393-12-80
  • Shimizu, Y. (2023). Maternal Health. World Health Organization: https://www.who.int/health-topics/maternal-health#tab=tab_1
  • Ugwa, E. (2016). Nutritional Practices and Taboos among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Care at General Hospital in Kano, Northwest Nigeria. Ann Med Health Sci Res 6(2), 109-114. https://doi.org/10.4103/2141-9248.181846
  • Zahidi, S. (2022). Global Gender Gap Report. Switzerland: World Economic Forum.

Cite this article

    CHICAGO : Mukhtar, Amna. 2023. "Cultural Challenges Faced By Women in Accessing Maternal Healthcare Services." Global Anthropological Studies Review, VI (I): 11-24 doi: 10.31703/gasr.2023(VI-I).02
    HARVARD : MUKHTAR, A. 2023. Cultural Challenges Faced By Women in Accessing Maternal Healthcare Services. Global Anthropological Studies Review, VI, 11-24.
    MHRA : Mukhtar, Amna. 2023. "Cultural Challenges Faced By Women in Accessing Maternal Healthcare Services." Global Anthropological Studies Review, VI: 11-24
    MLA : Mukhtar, Amna. "Cultural Challenges Faced By Women in Accessing Maternal Healthcare Services." Global Anthropological Studies Review, VI.I (2023): 11-24 Print.
    OXFORD : Mukhtar, Amna (2023), "Cultural Challenges Faced By Women in Accessing Maternal Healthcare Services", Global Anthropological Studies Review, VI (I), 11-24