Two thirds of the most disadvantaged Dalit population of Nepal still do not deliver in health facilities despite impressive success in maternal health

INTRODUCTION: The gains in maternal and child health in Nepal was impressive in the last two decade but success was unevenly distributed. The Dalits of Nepal are the most disadvantaged caste group and have benefitted least from the advances in maternal health service. This study investigated the rate of and factors associated with the institutional delivery among the Dalit women of the Mahottari, Nepal. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted during July-December 2014 using a structured questionnaire. A total of 328 mothers who had their childbirth within one year were interviewed. Descriptive statistics followed by binary and multivariable logistic regression analyses were computed to find the association of key variables with institutional delivery. RESULTS: In this study, only 30% of the mother had institutional delivery. Fifty eight percent mothers had no any birth preparedness and complication readiness. Four or more antenatal visits (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR): 3.54, CI: 1.82–6.90), birth preparedness (AOR: 3.15, CI: 1.61–6.18), planned pregnancy (AOR: 2.63, CI: 1.37–5.06) and receiving advice from health staffs (AOR: 3.96, CI: 2.00–7.86) and mother's autonomy (AOR: 2.25, CI: 1.03–4.49) were associated with child birth at the health facility. CONCLUSION: This study indicated that birth preparedness, ANC visit frequency, planning of pregnancy, advice for institutional delivery and mother's autonomy were significantly associated with health facility delivery. Less than one-third mothers had institutional delivery and reasons were feeling of un-necessary, far distance, lack of transportation and associated cost; and birth preparedness is also low. Hence, promotion of birth preparedness, uptake of ANC service, proper counselling for institutional delivery, promoting women autonomy and strengthening women to have planned pregnancy were some recommendation to promote institutional delivery for such disadvantage community.