Effectiveness of the antenatal clinic in the post-partum approach to family planning
Sadashivaiah, K.
Journal of the Christian Medical Association of India 49(1): 19-23
1974
ISSN/ISBN: 0009-5443 PMID: 12333564 Document Number: 484692
Data was collected on the 692 women who attended the antenatal clinic and the 420 women attending the maternity ward for some reason during 1971-1972 at the C.B.M. Hospital in Maharashtra State, India in order to assess the effectiveness of the antenatal clinic in the post-partum approach to family planning. The 1st stage of the analysis focuses only on the 692 women attending the antenatal clinic, their characteristics and their response to family planning. The women in the age group 20-29 constituted more than 72% of the total and about 9% was younger than age 19. The number of visits to the antenatal clinic was quite independent of the gravida of the women. The more often the woman attends the antenatal clinic, the more likely she is to return to the same hospital for delivery. The rate of acceptance of sterilization increases with the increase in the number of visits to the antenatal clinic (except for a slight decline in the 2nd visit for those delivered at the hospital) up to the 6th visit and then starts decreasing. The rates of sterilization are consistently higher for those delivered at the hospital as compared to those delivered outside. The rate of sterilization for all cases, irrespective of the age, was slightly more for the antenatal cases than for the other obstetrics and gynecological cases but the difference was not statistically significant. Clearly, the antenatal clinic can play a predominant role in the post-partum approach to family planning, because it is easy to contact the pregnant woman to disseminate family planning knowledge and it is easier to motivate patients following delivery.