Exploring Maternal Health Care-Seeking Behavior of Married Adolescent Girls in Bangladesh: A Social-Ecological Approach

BACKGROUND: The huge proportion of child marriage contributes to high rates of pregnancies among adolescent girls in Bangladesh. Despite substantial progress in reducing maternal mortality in the last two decades, the rate of adolescent pregnancy remains high. The use of skilled maternal health services is still low in Bangladesh. Several quantitative studies described the use of skilled maternal health services among adolescent girls. So far, very little qualitative evidence exists about attitudes and practices related to maternal health. To fill this gap, we aimed at exploring maternal health care-seeking behavior of adolescent girls and their experiences related to pregnancy and delivery in Bangladesh. METHODS AND FINDINGS: A prospective qualitative study was conducted among thirty married adolescent girls from three Upazilas…