Akademia Doğa ve İnsan Bilimleri Dergisi, cilt.9, sa.1, ss.1-14, 2023 (Hakemli Dergi)
This study aimed to investigate the relationship between women status and the use of
maternal/child health services and family planning methods (MCH-FP). Data of 1349 women and their
babies from the 2013 Turkey Demographic and Health Survey was used in the study. The women’s
opinions on gender, their husbands’ behaviors to control women, and physical violence against women
were used to construct the independent variable indicating overall women satus while the use of
prenatal care during pregnancy, delivery assistance from health care professionals, and family planning
method were used as indicators for MCH-FP services. The results revealed that education level of women
and their husbands, household wealth and residential area were found to be significant variables having
effect on women status, and there was positive relationship between increasing women status and
higher rate of using MCH-FP services. Based on these results, this study concludes that more appropriate
policies in empowering women should be developed and implemented to increase women status if
Turkey wants to decrease unexpected early newborn deaths and improve mothers and their newborn
health status by enabling pregnant women to use more maternal and child health services and modern
family planning methods.