Study to assess the extent of maternal health care utilization by women residing in urban slum area in Ahmedabad

Abstract

Background: Maternal mortality is on an average 18 times higher in developing countries as compared to developed countries. Despite the existence of many national programs for improving maternal and child health, maternal mortality and morbidity continue to be at higher side, at an unacceptable level. Objective: (1) To know the extent of maternal health care utilization; (2) To study the factors affecting utilization of maternal care services. Materials and Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted in an urban slum during September and October 2014. A pretested questionnaire was used to collect data. All married women in the age group of 15-45 years who were either pregnant at time of interview or had delivered within last 1 year were included. A total of 100 such women identified by door-to-door survey participated in the study after getting informed oral consent. Data were entered in Microsoft Excel and was analyzed in Epi Info 7. "P" < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Result: Around 80% respondents received antenatal care (ANC) and 20% did not seek ANC. Overall, ANC registration was quite good (92%) but within first trimester it was only 58%. Immunization for tetanus was 79% but consumption of iron and folic acid tablets was 76%. Reason for inadequate utilization was mainly due to either unawareness or financial constraints. Conclusion: The utilization of ANC services and deliveries at health centers were significantly associated with education of the women, education of their spouses, and socioeconomic status of the family.

A Cross-sectional study to evaluate maternal health care services utilization among women residing in an urban slum area, Ahmedabad

“…Utilization of individual ANC services such as ANC registration in the first trimester (74.6%), Td injections (100%), more than four ANC visits (82.6%), and IFA tablet (4) consumption was more than the national coverage survey . Our study concluded that mother's education has a significant association with the utilization of ANC services, which is (8,11) similar to other study findings .…”

“…In our study, there were 119 (94.5%) institutional deliveries, which is very encouraging. However, around 5.6% of them were delivered (8) at home. Another study conducted by Patel et al found 8% home delivery in an urban slum; both are much higher than the state's NFHS-5 report (2019-2020), of 1.1%, which is a (5) cause of concern .…”

Factors Affecting the Utilization of Maternal and Child Health Care Services in Tribal Dominated Population States of India

“…11,12 Utilization of reproductive health services is in turn related to their availability and socio-economic, demographic and cultural factors such as women's age, education, employment, caste and autonomy. [13][14][15][16][17] ( Access to health care facilities in terms of distance and who provided health care are major factors that influenced utilisation of services. Apart from above all factors women's autonomy is also a major determinant of utilization of maternal and child care services, women with greater freedom of movement are more likely to utilize antenatal and delivery care.…”

(Failure) to Name Violence: Obstetric Violence in Naming Context: Traditional Review

“…9,[23][24][25] Obstetrik şiddet maruziyeti; kadınların sağlık kuruluşunu kullanmaktan kaçınmasına ve/veya sağlık kuruluşuna başvurmayı ertelemesine, kadınların üreme yaşamları konusunda olumsuzluklara, çocuk sahibi olma isteğinin azalmasına, hamile kalma ve doğum yapma ve doğum şeklini seçme korkusuna ve postpartum depresyona neden olabilmektedir. 14,[26][27][28][29][30][31] Kadın hakları aktivisti yazarlar ise konunun kadın hakkı ihlali ve cinsiyete dayalı bir kavram olduğunu, yapısal bir şiddet içerdiğini, mağdur-fail arasında bir güç eşitsizliği söz konusu olduğunu belirterek, konunun obstetrik şiddet adı altında ele alınması gerektiğini savunmaktadırlar. 10,23,25,32 Ülkemiz literatüründe obstetrik şiddet konusunda yapılmış çalışma sayısı çok azdır ve bu çalışmalarda "obstetrik şiddet" terimi kullanılmıştır.…”