Table 1 Rate (%) of attending any postnatal care and immediate postnatal care visits by demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, Nepal 2011 (N = 4079)

Proximate factors

Mother’s age (in years)

P < 0.001*

P < 0.001*

15-19

306 (7.5)

161 (51.6)

153 (48.9)

20-29

2608 (63.9)

1227 (46.0)

1164 (43.8)

30-34

661 (16.2)

270 (39.9)

259 (38.2)

> = 35

504 (12.4)

130 (7.7)

118 (24.3)

Number of ANC visits

P < 0.001*

P < 0.001*

No ANC visit

611 (15.0)

65 (11.5)

59 (10.4)

1-3

1317 (32.3)

383 (27.9)

355 (25.9)

4 or more

2151 (52.7)

1340 (63.3)

1280(60.6)

Timing of ANC

P < 0.001*

P < 0.001*

Late ANC (4–9 months)

2018 (49.5)

607 (30.0)

509 (35.7)

Early ANC (<=3 months)

2061 (50.5)

1181(56.5)

1126 (53.9)

Place of delivery

P < 0.001*

P < 0.001*

Home

2464 (60.4)

339 (14.3)

281 (11.7)

Health facility

1615 (39.6)

1449 (89.2)

1413 (87.6)

Attendance during delivery

P < 0.001*

P < 0.001*

Unskilled attendance

2236 (54.8)

208 (9.8)

155 (7.2)

Skilled attendance

1843 (45.2)

1580 (83.9)

1539 (82.2)

Maternal final say on her own health care

P < 0.001*

P < 0.001*

Women with partner/other

1522 (37.7)

737 (47.7)

707 (45.7)

Women alone

917 (22.7)

419 (44.7)

402 (43.0)

Partner alone/someone else

1594 (39.5)

616 (38.2)

571 (35.5)

Birth order

P < 0.001*

P < 0.001*

First

1248 (30.6)

770 (61.8)

733 (59.7)

Second or third

1847 (45.3)

802 (41.2)

758 (38.4)

Fourth or more

948 (24.1)

216 (21.6)

203 (20.3)

Sex of child

P = 0.209

P = 0.305

Male

2192 (53.7)

946 (42.0)

902 (39.9)

Female

1887 (46.3)

842 (44.5)

792 (42.0)

Sociodemographic factors

Wealth status

P < 0.001*

P < 0.001*

Poor (Lower 40%)

1992 (48.8)

493 (23.8)

458 (22.2)

Middle (Middle 40%)

1416 (34.7)

756 (50.6)

723 (48.0)

Rich (Upper 20%)

671 (16.5)

539 (80.7)

213 (77.4)

Ethnicity

P < 0.001*

P < 0.001*

Advantaged

1955 (47.9)

971 (51.4)

921 (48.9)

Disadvantaged (Janjati)

1410 (34.6)

549 (37.4)

515 (35.2)

Disadvantaged (Dalit)

714 (17.5)

268 (35.0)

258 (33.5)

Religion

P = 0.008*

P = 0.014*

Hindu

3480 (85.3)

1575 (44.9)

1491 (42.5)

Others

599 (14.7)

213 (34.8)

203 (33.3)

Maternal education

P < 0.001*

P < 0.001*

No education

1765 (43.3)

449 (26.6)

418 (24.7)

Primary

817 (20.0)

341 (39.8)

322 (37.8)

Secondary

1225 (30.0)

760 (61.0)

728 (58.7)

Higher

272 (6.7)

238 (85.5)

226 (80.8)

Maternal occupation

P < 0.001*

P < 0.001*

Not working

965 (23.7)

603 (59.5)

571 (56.6)

Agriculture

2502 (61.3)

797 (31.0)

757 (29.4)

Working (paid)

612 (15.0)

388 (61.3)

366 (57.8)

Paternal education

P < 0.001*

P < 0.001*

No education

761 (18.7)

176 (24.2)

161 (22.3)

Primary

989 (24.2)

313 (32.3)

297 (30.2)

Secondary

1815 (44.5)

921 (50.4)

879 (48.1)

Higher

514 (12.6)

378 (74.7)

357 (71.8)

Paternal occupation

P < 0.001*

P < 0.001*

Agriculture

978 (24.0)

253 (26.0)

237 (24.4)

Professional/technical

1715 (42.0)

1012 (58.3)

961 (55.5)

Manual and others

1386 (34.0)

523 (37.4)

496 (35.5)

Community factors

Place of residence

P < 0.001*

P < 0.001*

Urban

897 (22.0)

610 (71.8)

579 (68.2)

Rural

3182 (78.0)

1178 (39.9)

1115 (37.9)

Development region

P = 0.692

P = 0.725

Eastern

958 (23.5)

405 (46.0)

375 (42.9)

Central

854 (20.9)

381 (42.7)

364 (40.6)

Western

643 (15.8)

333 (44.4)

322 (43.1)

Mid -western

896 (22.0)

359 (38.5)

342 (36.5)

Far-western

728 (17.8)

310 (42.4)

291 (39.2)

Ecological region

P < 0.001*

P < 0.001*

Mountain

742 (18.2)

208 (26.7)

195 (24.9)

Hill

1656 (40.6)

663 (37.6)

628 (35.8)

Terai

1681 (41.2)

917 (49.8)

871 (47.1)