The education role on institutional delivery among teenage mothers in Indonesia: A national wide survey

Abstract

Objectives

Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) and Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) in Indonesia are still high. The government encourages institutional births to reduce these numbers. Meanwhile, early marriage is still a problem in Indonesia. The study examines the role of education level on institutional delivery among teenage mothers in Indonesia.

Methods

The secondary analysis of the 2023 Indonesian Health Survey involved a sample of 609 teenage moms. We analyzed the relationship between institutional delivery and education level and seven control variables: residence, age, marital status, work status, wealth, insurance, antenatal care (ANC), and parity. The study employed binary logistic regression for the final stage.

Results

The result showed that only 49.7 % of adolescent mothers in Indonesia deliver their babies in institutional settings. Regarding education, teenage mothers in primary school are 2.268 times more likely than those without education to perform institutional delivery (95%CI 2.185–2.355). Adolescent mothers with junior high school are 4.545 times more likely to achieve institutional delivery than those without education (95%CI 4.380–4.716). Moreover, teenage mothers with senior high school are 5.040 times more likely to childbirth in institutional settings than those without education (95%CI 4.837–5.252). The findings indicated that higher education correlates with an increased likelihood of institutional delivery.

Conclusions

Education levels were associated with institutional delivery among teenage mothers. The better the education level, the higher the possibility of performing institutional delivery. The study implies that improving education levels among adolescent mothers in Indonesia could increase the likelihood of institutional delivery, potentially reducing MMR and IMR.