Does Sociological background influence the choice of Availing of Maternity Care facilities? A study on North-Eastern region of India using hybrid models of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis

Abstract

Background: The north-eastern part of India, dominated by a population belonging to various tribal communities, possesses diverse socioeconomic characteristics. The variation across communities in terms of availing maternity care is linked to socioeconomic traits. Objective: To conduct a comparative performance appraisal of all 16 regions in North-East India regarding the availing of maternity care and explore the linkage between each state’s socioeconomic characteristics and its relative success in delivering maternity care. Methods: The study is based on the data from India’s National Family Health Survey (NFHS – 4). We considered a total of 16 geographical areas, 11 criteria of maternity care, and 17 socioeconomic characteristics. We utilized hybrid models of AHP-TOPSIS and Entropy-TOPSIS for the ordinal evaluation of the regions concerning the delivery of maternity care and socioeconomic attainments. Finally, we analysed the associations between the two. Results: The ordinal evaluations rank all 16 regions regarding socioeconomic attainments and the delivery of maternity care. The study finds that Manipur, as a state, excels in delivering maternity care, while Meghalaya is the poorest performer. Female literacy, female educational attainment, male literacy, and female fertility are critical factors significantly impacting women’s availing of maternity care.