Predictors for antenatal services and pregnancy outcome in a rural area: a prospective study in Wardha district, India
Khatib, N.; Zahiruddin, Q.S.; Gaidhane, A.M.; Waghmare, L.; Srivatsava, T.; Goyal, R.C.; Zodpey, S.P.; Johrapurkar, S.R.
Indian Journal of Medical Sciences 63(10): 436-444
2009
ISSN/ISBN: 1998-3654 PMID: 19901482 Document Number: 571582
Antenatal care is essential to reduce morbidity and mortality among newborn babies and pregnant women. To study the pattern of utilization of antenatal services and to find out the potential predictors, their distributions and their association with antenatal care utilization and pregnancy outcomes. A prospective longitudinal study was conducted in Deoli, a rural teaching area of a medical college of Wardha district, Maharashtra state. Medical social workers contacted all the registered 305 pregnant women in 1 month. A total of 274 women were included in the study. The response rate was 89.83%. Percentages, rate ratio. Mean age at marriage was 19.8+/-3.6 years, and the average age at first pregnancy was 21.6+/- 4.5 years. Of the 274 pregnant women, 156 (56.9%) were pregnant for the first time (gravida 1), and the remaining 118 (43.1%) pregnant women, gravida 2 and above, had an average of 2.1 living sons and 1.9 living daughters. Only 92 (33.6%) women had undergone the minimum recommended antenatal checkup during their current pregnancy, and 188 (68.6%) women had institutional deliveries. A large proportion of women in Deoli do not receive proper health care during pregnancy and childbirth. In Deoli, antenatal services, in spite of being essential to the care of pregnant women, are being poorly delivered.