Poor women, in both rural and urban areas in the northern region of Bangladesh, experience high maternal mortality rate (MMR), and compared to other regions, this group also has a low proportion of receiving antenatal care (ANC) and of births assisted by the skilled health personnel. One of the prime factors for this situation is the lack of the poor mothers’ access to maternal health care (MHC) services. Finding out physical, social and organisational access barriers to MHC services and exploring how these barriers caused three delays in healthcare seeking behaviour were therefore the main objectives of the paper. The study used both primary and secondary data to meet its objectives. The primary data was collected from October to December in 2010 interviewing 160 mothers who were pregnant or delivered at least one baby during the last ten years and the heads of seven relevant health centres, administering eight focus group discussions and observing the field. An assortment of articles, reports, theses and books were consulted in complementing and substantiating the argument. The study found social (early marriage, perception of pregnancy and childbirth, high financial cost) and organizational (lack of female health staff, lack of a guiding principle in the health sector, in/exclusion errors in benefit distribution, low quality services) barriers more acute than physical (distance and waiting time) barriers. As concluded, all these barriers seem to have caused delays in seeking healthcare, reaching facility centres at the right time and receiving adequate services. The findings of the current study suggest that rescheduling official time of the service centre, recruiting and posting female health workers, following a guiding path and providing emergency obstetric care at free of costs are the feasible ways of getting better maternal health situation in the study areas.South East Asia Journal of Public Health Vol.6(2) 2016: 23-36

This paper will identify health hazards associated with indoor air pollution (IAP) in Bangladesh. Research into IAP in Bangladesh has been neglected for many decades. This neglect may reflect aspect of the marginalization of women in Bangladeshi society, especially as cooking is considered a social responsibility of women. The main purposes of the paper are to examine types of the IAPrelated health threats female domestic cook experienced and to understand their level of awareness about the link between IAP exposure and poor health outcomes. Two hundred female domestic cook in Rajshahi City, Bangladesh, were interviewed by using a semi-structured questionnaire interview method. Levels of monthly household income and of education, oven and fuel types are used as proxy determinants of class. Based on educational level, respondents were categorized into three classes: illiterate, primary (1-5 level) and secondary (6-10 level). It found that the higher the educational level the respondents had, the more they were likely to be aware of health effects associated with IAP. The author draws a conclusion that women with less monthly household income (below 5000 BD Taka) and minimum level of education, using solid fuels and mud-ovens in poor ventilated environment, are more likely to be exposed to IAP and, as a consequence, have greater health risks than others. Finally, as recommended, if the Bangladesh Government is able to supply green and clean fuel sources with subsidies for poor women, it would be easier for Bangladesh to achieve the 3 rd Sustainable Development Goal-ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages-at the right time (2030). Smoke in the home, the fourth greatest cause of death and diseases in the world's poorest countries, kills more people than malaria does, and almost as many as unsafe water and sanitation. It kills 1.6 million people annually, nearly a million of them are children. Most of the rest are women (Smith et al., 2005).

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Bangladesh has made tremendous achievements in the health sector over the last few decades, albeit worse in maternal health (MH) compared to other South Asian countries. The fact that women, particularly poor, have less access to maternal health care (MHC) services is one of the prime reasons. The main objective of this study was to explore what types of barriers poor mothers faced during the service use. A triangulation of method (interviews of service recipients through interview schedule and service providers through checklist, focus group discussion and observation) was used for the collection of primary data (sample 200) from two slum areas in Rajshahi City between March and April, 2013. The study found socio-cultural and organizational barriers to access to MHC services more acute than physical and financial barriers. As suggested, building awareness of bad consequences of early marriage on MH, ensuring a strong coordination among service providing organizations in dispensing free drugs and posting female doctors in study areas are urgently needed for further improvement of MH.MHC services and affordability to pay the service charges and receive good quality of service? These questions demand investigation. Broadly speaking, the main aim of the study was therefore to examine different barriers that discouraged women from going for MHC services.The next section highlights research techniques adopted in this study which is followed by the discussion of results of the study. The penultimate section highlights main findings of the study while conclusion and recommendations are made in final section.

Poor women, in both rural and urban areas in the northern region of Bangladesh, suffer from high maternal mortality rates, and compared to other regions, this group also has a low proportion of up-taking ante natal care (ANC) and of births assisted by skilled attendants. This endeavour therefore took an attempt to critically examine the availability of and accessibility to maternal health care (MHC) services, provided by government and non-government organisations (NGOs) in the northern part of Bangladesh, with the specific objective of finding out how far poor women had the availability of and accessibility to MHC services. The study used both primary and secondary data to meet its objectives. Triangulation of methods (questionnaire interviews of service users and providers, and observations) were employed to collect primary data. A large number (160) of mothers who were pregnant or delivered at least one baby during the last ten years and the heads of relevant health centres were interviewed. An assortment of articles, reports, theses and books were consulted in complementing and substantiating the arguments in this study. The main findings of the study suggest that there has been an increase in the availability of and accessibility to MHC services. However, the increment varies across regions and social groups. Lastly, it concludes that rural, poor and less educated mothers have less availability of and access to MHC services compared to urban, non-poor and better educated women.