High Maternal Deaths in Bangladesh: Exploring Social Structural Causes of Non-Use of Maternal Healthcare Services

Bangladesh has made a remarkable progress in reducing high maternal mortality rate (MMR). The current MMR is 123 per 100,000 live births, whereas it was 434 in 2000. However, this figure is not commendable compared with other neighboring countries. The current MMR figures for India, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka are 103, 60, and 29 respectively. This figure led us to explore why MMR in Bangladesh is high compared with other neighboring countries. As found in anecdotal evidence, the low uptake rate of maternal healthcare services (MHS) in Bangladesh compared with India, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka is one of the main reasons for this condition. This study has taken an attempt to find out social structural barriers to this low utilization rate of MHS based on secondary sources of information. It has been found that position of women in family and society, family structure, women’s reproductive and health rights, wealth, education, gender norms, place of residence, culture, and religion influence women’s health behaviour. Lastly, it argues that it is urgent to address social structural barriers to MHS rather than increasing the availability of and accessibility to MHS to achieve health-related Sustainable Development Goal.