Abstract
Background
Maternal deaths and complications are highly preventable with good antenatal, postnatal and skilled care during childbirth. Inadequate information on the factors affecting these services could be barrier to a reduction of maternal deaths in low-income countries.
Objective
To assess the uptake of antenatal, postnatal and skilled care during childbirth.
Method
A cross-sectional study was conducted in eight villages of Nawalparasi district in southern Nepal. A total of 447 women who had given birth within the preceding 24 months were recruited using multistage random sampling. Data were collected using a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire. Chi-square tests were used to assess association between variables.
Result
Over 70% of women had gone for at least four antenatal care check-ups while only 14.3% had at least three postnatal check-ups in their last pregnancies. The proportion of institution delivery was 54%. Women’s literacy was associated with the uptake of antenatal services (p=<0.001), postnatal care (p=0.04) and institutional delivery (p=<0.001). Knowledge of antenatal (p=<0.001) and postnatal care was also associated with uptake of respective services (p=<0.001).
Conclusion
The uptake and knowledge of antenatal care was much better than of postnatal care. Home delivery rates were still very high. A scaling-up of education and awareness-raising interventions in this community could help improve the uptake of maternal health services.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 206-211 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Kathmandu University Medical Journal |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue number | 67 |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jul 2019 |
