A Comparative Study on Maternal Care Practices in Tribal Area and Urban Slums

Abstract

INTRODUCTION:Mothers and children constitute the major proportion of our population. At the same time these two groups are very vulnerable and require special attention in health care. 1 In spite of progress in health care delivery, there are variations in utilization of the health services in urban slums, rural and tribal areas. Therefore in this context, an attempt was made to compare the health care practices of mothers in tribal area and urban slums. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study is a community based cross sectional study conducted among mothers with living infants residing in tribal area and urban slums. After the survey and collection, from 606 mothers, comprising 305 from tribal area and 301 from urban slums through self administered questionnaire which covered socio-demographic profile, antenatal care, postnatal care and family planning methods, the data was analyzed using SPSS, 12. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: In urban slums 42% of women are approaching private practitioners for antenatal care whereas 87% of tribal women are depending on government health centers for antenatal care. With regards to intranatal care, 70% of women in tribal areas delivered at their homes where as 80% of deliveries in urban slums were also home deliveries. Spacing is less than a year in 61% of tribal and 37% of urban population. The antenatal care is being provided mainly by private institutions and government hospitals in urban areas. In tribal areas women are approaching health centers for antenatal care. Most of the deliveries in the study population are home deliveries . Utilization of family planning services is very low in both the groups.

Faith or Rationality – what dominates the health scenario? – Reflections from a non-governmental organization based health center in a tribal area of rural Maharashtra

“…Prior research is suggestive of preference of government health facility over private sector, especially for antenatal care and chronic diseases. [ 8 9 10 11 12 ] There is also enough evidence to show the inclination toward private practitioners for acute/minor illnesses. [ 13 14 15 16 ] This may be attributed to the fact that majority of the patients have started seeking immediate treatment on falling ill and these are more accessible.…”

Newborn care practices in a tribal community in tamilnadu: a qualitative study

“…Issues such as ignorance, illiteracy, strong adherence to beliefs, geographic locations, lack of accessibility and non availability or utilization of health services contribute to poor neonatal health outcomes. [3][4][5] Each tribe has its own newborn care rearing practices. Available studies on newborn care practices of tribes have reported beneficial and harmful customs.…”

“…Very little information is available in this issue among the tribes in Tamilnadu, which habitats about 1% of the 10.42 crores tribal population of India. [3][4][5][6][7] In this context, an attempt was made to understand the neonatal care practices prevailing in a selected tribal region of Tamilnadu, India.…”