Assessment of Knowledge of Janani Suraksha Yojna among RDWs of Aligarh: A community based cross Sectional study.

ABSTRACT

Background: Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), launched on 12th April, 2005 under the umbrella of NRHM is a safe motherhood intervention. It is a conditional cash transfer scheme aimed to increase the number of institutional deliveries and decrease the maternal and neonatal mortality rates but still the awareness about the scheme is low in women from rural areas and urban slums, especially in low performing states. Aims: To assess the awareness of recently delivered women from rural areas and urban slums regarding JSY and to study the knowledge level of various components of JSY. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in the rural areas and urban slums of field practice areas of Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, AMU, Aligarh for a period of one year. The prevalence of institutional delivery in UP as found in a study by UNFPA 2008 (50.2%) was used for calculation of sample size. (95% confidence level, 12% relative precision and 8% non response) The yielded sample size was 278, which was rounded off to 300 and selected proportionately. After taking informed consent from the head of the families and targets, the study subjects were interviewed by a pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaire. Statistical analysis used SPSS 20 and Epi Info software (with Yate’s correction).Results: The awareness of JSY was found to be high (85%) but knowledge regarding benefits covered under the scheme was only limited to cash incentive for institutional deliveries. Knowledge of 108 ambulance was also low(26.6%). Conclusion: There is an urgent need to strengthen IEC campaigns and monitoring strategies.