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Objective: To assess the frequency of anaemia and to determine its socioeconomic and dietary de- terminants among teenage school girls of Karachi. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out from January to July, 2015. The study subjects were chosen from four schools, two each  from  high  socioeconomic  and  poor  neighbourhoods  of  Karachi.  Our study was conducted on 497 school girls aged 13 to 18 years, who were enrolled by employing convenient sampling, after informed consent of parents and principal of the school. All study subjects were interviewed using a questionnaire, clinically examined for signs  of  anaemia  and  measurements taken for anthropometric and haemoglobin estimation. Results:  The primary study outcome was the anaemia status of the study participants as determined by their haemoglobin level using a cut  off  of  11  gm/dl.  The  study  results  showed  that  only  167  (36.5%) of the participants were anaemic and majority of them was negative for signs of skin pallor  (66.6%), conjunctival pallor (79.8%),  koilonychia  (95.8%)  or  brittle  hair  (86.4%).  The  factors  found  to be significantly associated with anaemia included lower socioeconomic status (p<0.0001),  paternal  illiteracy (p=0.022) and paternal unemployment (p<0.0001). Furthermore, the study findings  also  re-  vealed infrequent consumption of eggs (p=0.015), milk (p=0.019), spinach/green leafy  vegetables  (p=0.004)  and  chocolates/candies/biscuits/cakes  (p=0.039)  to  be  significantly  associated  with anaemia. Conclusion: The study suggest that frequency of anaemia in teenage school girls was significantly associated with  lower  socioeconomic  status,  paternal  illiteracy,  unemployment,  infrequent  consump- tion of eggs, milk, spinach/green leafy  vegetables  and  chocolates/candies/biscuits/cakes.  Hence,  urgent needs of improving paternal illiteracy, decreasing unemployment and increasing educational  awareness in teenage girls regarding the consumption of iron rich foods.

Background: Pakistan is among the most populous countries of South East Asia with very high maternal mortality rate. One of the reasons of this elevated maternal mortality is non-availability of skilled workers at the time of labour. Objective: The study was carried out to see the frequency of abuse and disrespect during childbirth at a public sector hospital of Karachi and whether it affects their choice regarding the place of delivery in future pregnancy or not? Methodology: A cross sectional study was done after ethical review board approval and consent. A prevalidated questionnaire was used to collect the data from 476 women after their delivery but before they get discharged from the heath facility. Descriptive statistics were calculated and Univariate and multivariate analysis was done using spss 25. Result: Out of 466 patients, 401 (86%) reported some kind of disrespect and abuse from health care providers. Around 60% responded that they were not introduced to the health provider while 30% complained regarding the lack of involvement during and before the procedure. Almost 25% participants complained that no barrier was used to cover them during the procedure. Conclusion: Given study revealed that the occurrence of non-dignified maternity care is frequent in the area studied. Hospital administration and health policy makers should make sure and reinforce the training of health personnel who exhibit non dignified behavior towards laboring woman. This will help in reducing the maternal humiliation and psychological trauma of vulnerable women in public sector hospitals. Moreover maternal health will also improve as more women will attend health care facility for labour and delivery. Keywords: Disrespect, Abuse, Respectful maternity care, Facility delivery, maternal health