Mothers’ education and childhood mortality in Ghana

Abstract

The significant extent to which maternal education affects child health has been advanced in several sociodemographic-medical literature, but not much has been done in analysing the spatial dimension of the problem; and also using graphic and linear regression models of representation. In Ghana, very little has been done to relate the two variables and offer pragmatic explanations. The need to correlate the two, using a regression model, which is rarely applied in previous studies, is a methodological necessity. The paper examines the impact of mothers' education on childhood mortality in Ghana using, primarily, Ghana Demographic and Health Survey data of 1998 and World Bank data of 2000. The survey has emphatically established that there is an inverse relationship between mothers' education and child survivorship. The use of basic health facilities that relate to childhood survival shows a direct relationship with mothers' education. Recommendations for policy initiatives to simultaneously emphasise the education of the girl-child, and to ensure adequate access to maternal and child health services, have been made. The need for an experimental project of integrating maternal education and child health services has also been recommended. A linear regression model that illustrates the relationship between maternal education and childhood survival has emerged.

Determinants of Child Mortality in Africa: A Methodological Discussion

“…The other critical factor that has been found is education among female population. Previous studies consider women's education as one of the main preventive factors of mortality among young children (Rutstein 2000;Buor 2003;Houweling and Kunst 2010;Monden and Smits 2013). Different measures of education (e.g.…”

Household resources as determinants of child mortality in Ghana

“…Most of the studies that investigated the influence of SES on child mortality tended to use the more traditional measures such as education and income [7][8][9] . For example, Blakely and colleagues (2003) examined maternal education in relation to child mortality and found that maternal education level is significantly associated with lower odds of child mortality 7 .…”

“…Several Ghanaian studies have suggested that child mortality is higher among women with low SES, for first order births compared with second and third order births and among children who live in rural areas versus urban areas 5,8,[11][12][13] . However, none of these studies examined child mortality in relation to household resources, although such resources are shown to be important determinants in studies of mortality in other countries [1][2][3] .…”

“…Consistent with other work worldwide, the present study found maternal education to be inversely associated with child mortality in a dose-response relationship. Maternal education has been identified as one of the most important socioeconomic determinants of child mortality with decreasing mortality as maternal educational level increases 5,[7][8][9] . Maternal education and place of residence show positive relationships with use of prenatal care, place of delivery (either hospital or home), breastfeeding and receipt of recommended childhood vaccinations 8,10 .…”

“…Maternal education has been identified as one of the most important socioeconomic determinants of child mortality with decreasing mortality as maternal educational level increases 5,[7][8][9] . Maternal education and place of residence show positive relationships with use of prenatal care, place of delivery (either hospital or home), breastfeeding and receipt of recommended childhood vaccinations 8,10 . The current study also found that primary and middle school education was associated with lower child morality compared to no education for women in rural areas, whereas only secondary school education relative to no education was associated with lower child mortality among women living in urban areas and towns.…”