Abstract

STUDY OF EFFECTS OF CHILD GENDER INEQUALITY ON MATERNAL HEALTH IN DIFFERENT CITIES OF PUNJAB

Aqsa Saeed*, Abida Hashmi, Bilal Hussain, Farwa Ali, Ifra Sumbal, Sadia Ehsan and Sara Almas

Abstract

The aim of this study is to test the general hypothesis that gender inequality (son preference) and difference in family behaviour after pregnancy have a significant influence on maternal healthcare utilization. Both qualitative and quantitative data from a field survey in 2018 from hospitals of Punjab area were used in the study. The findings give support to this hypothesis. For example, the extent to which the husband shares housework and show care and love, as an important marker of the women‘s position within the family, is positively associated with the likelihood that a woman receives prenatal examinations, stops heavy physical work before birth, and gives birth under aseptic conditions without any emotional burden of gender preference. Son preference is an impeding factor for maternal health care. Already having a son in the family reduces the chances that the mother will stop heavy physical work before birth for a subsequent pregnancy. Female infants with older sisters are the least likely to receive any kind of affection from family. Thus, the study provides further evidence that the child gender inequality concept has a negative impact on women and their families. This project is concerned with the interconnections between gender inequality and its effects on maternal health. This paper also focuses on the pathways that operate through undernourishment of the mother. Maternal deprivation and emotional disturbances adversely affects the health of the fetus, which in turn leads to long-term health risks that extend not just into childhood but into adulthood as well. The results of study show that gender inequality is largely affecting mother‘s health leading to different complications and high maternal morbidity rate. However, this preference for child gender is mostly tilted towards son preference as compared to daughters. The son preference level is high in low educated families while this preference level is low in upper class families.

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