Background: Postnatal care is uncommon in Nepal, and where it is available the quality is often poor. Adequate utilisation of postnatal care can help reduce mortality and morbidity among mothers and their babies. Therefore, our study assessed the utilisation of postnatal care at a rural community level.

In Nepal, most births take place at home, and many, particularly in rural areas, are not attended by a skilled birth attendant. The main objectives of the study were to assess the use of skilled delivery care and barriers to access such care in a rural community and to assess health problems during delivery and seeking care. This cross-sectional study was carried out in two Village Development Committees in Nepal in 2006. In total, 150 women who had a live birth in the 24 months preceding the survey were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. The sample population included married women aged 15-49 years. Forty-six (31%) women delivered their babies at hospital, and 104 (69%) delivered at home. The cost of delivery at hospital was significantly (p<0.001) higher than that of a delivery at home. Results of univariate analysis showed that women from Brahmin-Chhetri ethnicity, women with higher education or who were more skilled, whose husbands had higher education and more skilled jobs, had first or second childbirth, and having adverse previous obstetric history were associated with institutional delivery while women with higher education and having an adverse history of pregnancy outcome predicted the uptake of skilled delivery care in Nepal. The main perceived problems to access skilled delivery care were: distance to hospital, lack of transportation, lack of awareness on delivery care, and cost. The main reasons for seeking intrapartum care were long labour, retained placenta, and excessive bleeding. Only a quarter of women sought care immediately after problems occurred. The main reasons seeking care late were: the woman or her family not perceiving that there was a serious problem, distance to health facility, and lack of transport. The use of skilled birth attendants at delivery among rural women in Nepal is very poor. Home delivery by unskilled birth attendants is still a common practice among them. Many associated factors relating to the use of skilled delivery care that were identified included age, education and occupation of women, and education and occupation of husbands. Therefore, the availability of skilled delivery care services at the community, initiation of a primary health centre with skilled staff for delivery, and increasing awareness among women to seek skilled delivery care are the best solution.

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Background: Rising rate of caesarean section since few decades has been a global public health issue.This study is aimed to determine the rate of caesarean section plus examine the indications and complications of caesarean section.Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted using secondary data sources at Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Surkhet, Nepal. Data were collected from patients’records ofthe hospital dating from 16 July 2016 to 15 July 2017. All patients who had delivered their baby by caesarean section were included in this study. Data were analyzed by help of SPSS version 21.Ethical approval was obtained from the hospital authority prior to the study.Results: During the study, out of total 3,694 deliveries, 695 (18.8%) were caesarean section. Most of the caesarean section were emergency than elective (83.0% vs 17.0%). Among all women who underwent caesarean section, majority were from 37 to 42 weeks pregnancy (88.5%), age group between 20 and 24 (42.9%) and multiparous (53.5%).Fetal distress (20.1%) was most common among all major indications of caesarean section. Maternal complications due to caesarean section was low (3.7%). Among all complications, Post-partum hemorrhage (30.5%) was the major maternal complication of caesarean section. Most of newborn babies had APGAR score six or more at one minute (94.5%) and five minutes (97.9%).Conclusions: In our study, caesarean section rate was 18.8%, which is higher than WHO recommendation (10 – 15%). Main indication for caesarean section was fetal distress. Maternal and fetal complications were low.

The rising rate of caesarean section in urban Nepal is alarming as the lack of access for women in rural areas to emergency obstetric care, putting lives at risk. The latter is referred to as ‘Too little too late’. At the same time, the sharp rise in caesarean section rates in cities presents the other extreme: “Too much too soon”. The overuse of caesarean section causes harm, unnecessary costs, and misuse of health resources. Availability of private hospitals and increasing hospital childbirth may contribute to the rising rate of caesarean section. This article highlights the rising rate of caesarean section in urban Nepal.Keywords: Caesarean section; emergency obstetric care; Nepal.

Introduction: Stillbirth is often defined as the death of a foetus in the uterus prior to its birth or during the process of birth. Most of the stillbirths are preventable global health problem. The aim of this study was to find out the prevalence of stillbirths among pregnant women admitted to the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in a tertiary care centre. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of a tertiary care centre among pregnant women admitted between 14 April 2021 to 13 April 2022. Ethical approval was taken from the Institutional Review Committee (Reference number: 43). Convenience sampling method was used. The data was collected from the medical record section using a proforma. Point estimate and 95% Confidence Interval were calculated. Results: Among 5118 pregnant women, stillbirths were found in 126 (2.46%) (2.04-2.88, 95% Confidence Interval). Conclusions: The prevalence of stillbirth among pregnant women was higher than in the other studies done in similar settings.