Dimensions of women empowerment on access to antenatal care in Uganda: A further analysis of the Uganda demographic health survey 2016

Background Women empowerment has been viewed as a good strategy in the reduction of global maternal morbidity and mortality. Most of the recent studies in Uganda have focussed on antenatal care (ANC) frequency and the associated factors with no focus on the effect of women empowerment. Our study aims at examining the prevalence of optimal access to ANC by considering the timing of initiation, type of ANC provider and ANC frequency and their association with women empowerment. Methods We used Uganda Demographic and Health Survey 2016 data of 9957 women aged 15–49 years. Multistage stratified sampling was used to select study participants and we conducted multivariable logistic regression to establish the association between women empowerment and access to ANC using Statistical package for the social sciences version 25. Results Out of 9957 women, 2953 (29.7%: 95% CI: 28.5.0–30.2) had initiated ANC in first trimester, 6080 (61.1%: 95% CI: 60.4–62.3) had 4 or more ANC contacts, and 9880 (99.2%: 95% CI: 99.0–99.3) had received ANC from a skilled provider. Overall, 2399 (24.1%: 95% CI: 23.0–24.6) had optimal access to ANC. Economic empowerment and exposure to media were the only women empowerment indices that were positively associated with optimal access to ANC. Other factors that were significant include; region, wealth index, age, level of education and working status. Conclusion To ensure increased access to ANC, policy‐makers and other stakeholders should prioritise the use of mass media in maternal health programs, equitable allocation of the limited financial resources with a focus on older, poor and uneducated women.