Maternal health and women's rights in the Ga district

Abstract

Every, year at least half a million women die from pregnancy-related causes of which, 99% come from developing countries. The root cause of this situation is due to the fact that the decision-making power women regarding the right to decide on how many children to have and when (whether) to have them. the use of contraceptives and the right to refuse sex with their husbands have been circumscribed by socio-economic conditions within which they live. The study data were based on primary and secondary sources from four settlements in the Ga District - Kokrobite, Kweman. Dome and Amasaman. Field interviews, questionnaires, focus group discussions and personal observation were used to collect the primary data while the secondary data were derived from the hospitals, M/CH care clinics and other institutions such as the National Council on Women and Development(NCWD), Federation of Women Lawyers(FIDA), the 31 st December Women's Movement and the District Assemblies. In the Ga (the study area), women's sexual and reproductive health is not dependent exclusively on their own behaviours, but also, situations and behaviours of others. Thus, although decisions on some issues in the household such as breast-feeding and abstinence may be arrived at jointly, women will always respond to men's sexual demands irrespective of the implications because of the fear of reaction from their husbands. Also, as women have relatively low economic resources, they still rely on their husbands for economic support and so their control over their sexuality and reproduction is circumscribed by that fact. Thus, despite the fact that the women in the study area were generally aware of their reproductive rights they were unable to exercise these rights because of their low status in the society. The socio-economic status of women such as level of education of both men and women and the type of residence were the main factors that have influenced health-seeking behaviour of women. For instance, the antenatal health seeking behaviour of women in the Ga district was influenced by factors such as the educational level of the woman. distance to health centre, parity, type of marriage( polygynous or monogamous) and / husband's educational attainment. Moreover, the decision of the women to choose a place of delivery depends greatly on her place of residence, level of education, her husband and immediate family members. All these factors directly or indirectly affect women's status and decision-making in the home and society at large. The relationship between women's rights and maternal health is therefore not direct but is mediated by a set soocioeconomic, cultural and political mechanisms.