Awareness and perceptions of women regarding human rights related to maternal health in rural Bangladesh

BACKGROUND: The global development community has increasingly come to frame preventable maternal mortality and morbidity principally as a violation of women’s basic human rights, necessitating a human rights-based approach to be appropriately addressed. In this article, we explore how human rights are understood and perceived in relation to maternal health at the local level in rural Bangladesh. This is essential given the momentum at the global level to promote rights and apply rights-based approaches to maternal health. METHODS: A community-based, cross-sectional household survey was conducted in three upazilas (sub-districts) of Brahmanbaria district, Bangladesh in 2018. A total of 1367 women with a birth outcome in the past 12 months were interviewed. Descriptive statistics were used to report the awareness and perceptions of human rights related to maternal health. Multiple logistic regression was used to identify the associations between awareness and perceptions of human rights and background characteristics and, finally, with the use of skilled maternal health services. RESULTS: Over two-thirds of women reported that they were aware that women have human rights related to maternal health. However, less than 10% were able to mention at least three specific human rights related to maternal health. Half of the women mentioned husbands as duty-bearers, while only 20% mentioned the government as a duty-bearer. One-third of women reported that they are able to realize their rights related to maternal health satisfactorily. Awareness and perceptions of human rights related to maternal health were significantly associated with higher educational attainment and wealth status. They were also associated with increased use of antenatal care. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that interventions promoting the awareness of human rights related to maternal health would be appropriate within the communities of rural Bangladesh as part of a broader human rights-based approach to improving maternal health.