Utilization Of Postnatal Care Services in Rural Area of Western Rajasthan, India

Abstract

Introduction- Maternal and child health care is one of the components of primary health care. According to World Health Organization, 50-70% of maternal deaths occur in post- partum period. The study is aimed to assess the utilization of postnatal care services and associated factors in rural area of Western Rajasthan. Materials and Methods- This community based cross sectional study were conducted in the rural area of western Rajasthan. All women of study area, which delivered between 1stJuly 2013 to 30thJune 2014, were included in the study. Results- Only 35.86% mothers received 2 or more postnatal care services within 42 days of delivery. The main reason behind this was lack of knowledge/ unawareness about benefits of postnatal services. The important factors associated with low utilization of postnatal services were lower literacy level of mother, lower socioeconomic status, working mothers, nuclear family and parity of mother. Conclusion- The present study revealed low utilization of postnatal care services among the study population. Advancement of health facilities, encouragement of service provider, sustainable maternal and child health programs and creating awareness will support to achieve furthermore better results in the postnatal services utililization.

Keywords

• Health facility
• maternal health care
• postnatal care
• rural area