女性の教育が妊婦健診受診行動に与える影響

―医療人類学的研究―

抄録

The paper investigates decision-making process for attending antenatal care, in particular how women's education affects antenatal care seeking behavior in Kavrepalanchowk District, Nepal. It aims to illustrate the mechanism through which women's education promotes their participation in the decision-making process for deciding if they attend antenatal care. Both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods were used to enrich the description of their perception and behavior. The results suggest that empowerment of women, through increased knowledge, instrumentality (ability to manipulate and have control over the outside world), economic power, decrease of feeling of shame for childbirth, expanded support, attained by education may have resulted in increased number of antenatal care visits. The statistical analysis also indicates the women's education affects distance to health center, economic power, support level, communication with husband, and the number of children, all of which then, contribute to the increased antenatal care visits. Based on the findings, multi-sectoral collaboration such as investment on girls' education, decrease of women's workload, and income-generating activities are suggested to improve women's health seeking behavior. The significance of applying both qualitative and quantitative approaches in health study was also stressed.