Knowledge about the contents of mother and child protection card among pregnant women and lactating women of a rural field practice area

Introduction: MCH services are not utilized due to unawareness, poverty and lack of scientific knowledge regarding care during the issue. Though all the details are given in the MCPC to follow positive practices, utilization of the card is being done only for recording of the information. Objective: To assess the knowledge about the contents of mother and child protection card (MCPC) among the pregnant and lactating women of a rural area Methodology: This was a cross sectional study conducted on pregnant women and lactating mothers with child less than a year. Knowledge about the contents of MCPC was collected by interview method. Results: In our study, majority of the mothers had good knowledge about tetanus injection (92.5%), consumption of IFA tablets (72.6%), breastfeeding within an hour (92.5%), exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months (95.6%), cereals to be included in the complementary food (90.6%) and good perception about complete immunization of the baby (100%). Knowledge was found to be poor with respect to ANC checkups and examination, tracking weight of the baby and growth chart; assessing danger signs in newborn and emergency preparation. Conclusion: The study showed good knowledge about TT, IFA, nutrition, danger signs and immunization. There was poor knowledge about ANC checkups, baby growth, danger sings in newborn and emergency preparation.

Maternal periodontitis and its influence on duration of gestation and fetal birth weight

Background: There has been a lot of interest in knowing the effects of oral health on adverse pregnancy outcomes like preterm births and low birth weight. Studies have yielded contradicting results and there are lot of confounding issues that blur the picture.  Aim of the study is to determine the prevalence of periodontitis is pregnant population and determine the effect of periodontitis on preterm births and low birth weight.Methods: This was a cross sectional study of singleton pregnant women attending ante-natal checkups with oral interview and clinical examination. Oral examination was done at the beginning of third trimester of pregnancy. They were followed up to delivery to note the duration of gestation, birth weight of babies.Results: The prevalence of periodontitis was 22% with 90.9% having mild and 9.1% having moderate periodontitis. Maternal education (high school and above) was associated with lower prevalence of periodontitis (p=0.042). There was no difference in the birth weights between the group with and without periodontitis (2.9±0.41kgs vs 2.74±0.36kgs, p=0.11). The incidence of low birth weights was also similar (p=0.22). The average gestational age was slightly less in the group with periodontitis (38 weeks 3 days vs 37 weeks 5 days) but the rates of preterm births were similar between the two groups (p=0.61).Conclusions: Mild/moderate periodontitis does not appear to have a significant effect on pre-term births and low birth weight. Maternal education and awareness seem to mitigate development of periodontitis and adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Care practices during pregnancy, infant feeding practices and their association with nutritional status of infants in Gujarat, India

Background: Infant feeding practices plays an important role in nutritional status of children. Aims & Objectives: To assess ante-natal care, delivery and infant feeding practices and their association with nutritional status. Material & Methods: A community-based, cross-sectional study was carried out in all the districts using systematic random sampling. Information was collected from the selected household on socio-demographic, delivery and feeding practices and anthropometric measurements were carried out. Nutritional status was assessed using WHO Child Growth Standard. Proportion test, bivariate and multivariate regression analysis was done. Results: The overall prevalence of underweight, stunting and wasting was 26%, 21.5% and 16.5% respectively. Logistic regression analysis showed that the risk of underweight and stunting was 1.4-1.5 times higher among infant whose mother had undergone ≤3 ANCs or not availed ANCs, 1.4 times higher among infants delivered at home, having morbidity during previous fortnight and 3.6 times higher among low birth weight children. The risk of underweight and wasting was 1.2 times higher among infants with birth interval less than 2 years and 1.3-1.5 times higher among children whose mothers were washing their hands only with water after defecation. Conclusion: The undernutrition is associated with ante-natal care, delivery practices, low birth weight and hygienic practices.

Utilization of Antenatal services and concerning factors: A community based study

Background: Antenatal and post natal care are important component of maternal mortality rate. Antenatal facilities provided to mothers form the base of their future outcome. The services provided to mothers are still poor in India. A proper and effective program implementation is depending on understanding of basic factors that affect maternal and child health services utilization. Considering all these facts, it is important to study the maternal health service utilization pattern among the beneficiaries living in urban area of Jabalpur and factors responsible for their under utilization. Material & Methods: A prospective study was carried out in urban area of Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh. Cluster sampling technique was used to select 396 Antenatal females in the 36 different clusters. Information about socio demographic factors and ANC services utilization was recorded. Results: This study showed that 50.50% of women were registered within 12 weeks of pregnancy, 58.80% women received four or more antenatal visits, 23.99% women consumed hundred and more Iron Folic Acid (IFA) tablets and 96.21% received 2 doses of Tetanus Toxoid (TT) injections. Only 22.72% women had complete ANC service utilization. Conclusion: Utilization of Antenatal Care (ANC) services was poor in the urban areas of Jabalpur district even though the physical accessibility was adequate. ANC services utilization is significantly associated with level of education of mother, education of husband, occupation of mother, type of family and time of registration of pregnancy.

Maternal knowledge, food restriction and prevention strategies related to anaemia in pregnancy: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Anaemia is a major cause of morbidity and mortality among pregnant women in developing countries including Nigeria, affecting about 33% - 75% of all pregnant women. The burden and predisposing factors varies even within countries. Methods: A cross sectional descriptive was conducted; participants were recruited using consecutive sampling technique. Data were obtained from study consented participants using pretested self-administered questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS for Windows Version 17.0. Significant level was set at p < 0.05. Results: A total of 121 pregnant women with a mean age of 25.69±4.51 years participated in the study. Majority had post-primary education. The women exhibited good knowledge of anaemia in pregnancy. However, restriction of food including those rich in carbohydrates, proteins and alcoholic beverages (27.3%, 14.9%, and 56.8% respectively) was a common practice. Customs and religious beliefs were a major influence on food restrictions (50.8% and 28% respectively). Iron and folate supplementation, balanced diet, use of long lasting insecticide net, regular ante natal clinic visits among others were strategies respondents believes could help mitigate against this condition. Conclusions: The respondents had good knowledge of anaemia in pregnancy. However, restriction of nutritious food other than alcoholic beverages by significant proportion of the respondents is a cause for concern as this is a potential risk for anaemia in pregnancy. Nutrition education should be enhanced and sustained.

Antenatal HIV Testing for Prevalence in the Remote District of Rural Andhra Pradesh and Treatment Prophylaxis with Nevirapine

This study was carried out from January 2006 to December 2008 in the rural district of Andhra Pradesh, India. It included counselling and spreading of awareness encouraging voluntary Human Immunovirus testing in antenatal cases and starting prophylactic treatment of seropositive cases with nevirapine for safe deliveries and for preventing the mother to child transmission with distinct improvement effectively.

Knowledge and Practice of Ante-natal Care in an Urban Area

Antenatal care (ANC) among pregnant women is one of the important factors in reducing maternal morbidity and mortality. Unfortunately, many women in developing countries do not receive such care. So, the present study was carried out to evaluate the knowledge and practice of ANC among married women in the age group of 15-49 years and also to assess the association of knowledge of ANC with some selected variables of interest. A crosssectional study was conducted between January 2012 to March 2012 among 429 married women who had a delivery in the last five years in an urban area in Imphal East. Women were interviewed using structured questionnaire regarding socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge and practices on ANC. The mean score of the knowledge on ANC was 20.9+ 4.3 out of a total score of 36. However, only 42.6% women got full ANC, and the main reasons for not attending any antenatal check-up were thought of as not necessary and financial constraints. It was found that higher level of education, Hindu religion, age at marriage, and living in owned house were statistically associated with better knowledge (p<0.05). There is a need for enhancing awareness about the importance of ante-natal care and for motivating women to utilize maternal care services.

Status And Utilization Of Maternal Health Care Services In A Selected Rural Area Of Bangladesh.

Improvement of maternal health care services is regarded as an important component for achieving targets of MDGs by the year 2015. A cross-sectional community based study was carried out to find out the status and utilization of maternal health care services in Pangsa Upazilla of Rajbari District among 517 mothers who had at least one child up to 1 year of age. The study was conducted from June to August in the year 2008. Data were collected through face-to-face interview using purposive sampling technique. Most of the respondents were in the age group of 20-29 years (69.05%) and 35.01% of them had received primary education. Sixty seven percent of them had average monthly income of Taka 3001-5000. Eighty percent of the respondents were at the age group of 15-19 years when they got married. Most of the mothers (71.57%) got antenatal care during their last pregnancy and more than 80% of them had completed their TT vaccination schedule during pregnancy period. More than 80% of the deliveries were taken place at home. Eighty five percent of the deliveries were normal delivery and most of them (77.76%) were attended by the untrained traditional birth attendants (TBA). Hemorrhage was found to be the highest reported obstetric complication (37.50%). This study offered a picture of the maternal health care services in rural Bangladesh and detected the need for future work in this area.