Utilization of antenatal services among mothers and its impact on birth weight: a community based cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Safe motherhood initiatives was a worldwide effort launched by WHO in 1987 with an aim to reduce the number of deaths of women associated with pregnancy and childbirth. Appropriate antenatal care (ANC) is one of the pillars of this initiative and an important component of reproductive and child health. The present study was conducted to assess the utilization of antenatal care services, its contributing factors and its impact on birth weight of new-born.Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted for a period of 3 months at Ankuli, field practice area of urban health training centre, Department of Community Medicine. A total of 138 mothers (delivered within 2 years) were included by cluster sampling. Women who were sick and did not give consent were excluded from the study. A pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaire was used for data collection and analysed in SPSS version 16. Chi-square test and bivariate logistic regression was applied at p value <0.05.Results: About 55.07% of mothers were in 25-34 years of age group, 47.82% had studied secondary education and 36.23% mothers belonged to lower middle-class socioeconomic status (SES). About 60.87% of mothers had availed antenatal services completely. Education of the participant and her husband, SES and family type were significant contributors of ANC service utilization. There was a significant association between complete ANC utilization and birth weight of the baby (p<0.05).Conclusions: The utilisation of the antenatal services was low among the mothers in our study which can be increased by proper IEC activities.

Continuum of maternal health care services among peri-urban women- a community-based cross-sectional study in North India

“…Present study reported 51% coverage of full ANC services as compare to 60.87% full utilization of ANC in Odisha; 1.6% and 4% in urban and rural area of Bihar respectively and 22.9%. 5,9,13 More than 93% mothers received minimum three ANC visits and 6.7% received only partial ANC. 19 approximately 90% of pregnant women receive four or more antenatal visits in Ghana.…”

“…2,3 Most maternal deaths are preventable if mothers receive essential healthcare before, during, and after childbirth. 4,5 The continuum of maternal healthcare services (CMHS) has been emphasized to improve maternal as well as child health through integrated service delivery. It encompasses antenatal care (ANC), intra natal care (INC) and postnatal care (PNC).…”

“…10,11 though overall CMHS in India has been improved, however level of uptake is still considerably low among the women residing in peri-urban areas. 2,5,[9][10][11] Several studies have reported that various socio-cultural factors affects health seeking behaviour. these factors are likely to be critical determinants of seeking care and service utilization in the context of pregnancy.…”