Migration and Maternal Health Care Services Utilisation in Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract

This paper examines the utilisation of maternal health care services among women belonging to migrant and non-migrant households in Uttar Pradesh. Data from the second round of India Human Development Survey (IHDS-II) conducted in 2011-12 have been used for this study. IHDS-II collected information from nationally representative sample of 42,152 households, with 13,952 women aged 15-49. This data provides straight-forward information on out-migration, remittances and maternal health care utilisation. Binary logistic regression and propensity score matching have been applied to fulfil the objectives of the paper. The results show that a vast disparity exists in the utilisation of maternal health care services among women belong to migrants and non-migrant households. The logistic regression shows that full anti-natal care is almost two times higher for women from migrant households compared with women from non-migrant households. This paper further estimates the impact of migration on maternal health care service utilisation by estimating the difference in outcome between exposed (women belongs to migrant households) and non-exposed or the matched control (women from non-migrant households) with the help of propensity score matching analysis. The results show that women of migrant households in Uttar Pradesh have 2.9 per cent higher probability of getting full antenatal care than women in non-migrant households. Globally, the emancipatory potential of migration is a fact. The role of remittances (both internal and international) on development in the sending communities is also widely accepted. Migration helps in improving the quality of life by increasing the family's expenditure on education, business, housing and other necessities.