Birth Preparedness and Complication Readiness For A Safe Motherhood Among Antenatal Women Attending an Urban Health Centre, Bengaluru

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Maternal mortality rate continues to be alarming in India. The process of pregnancy needs planning since there can be undue occurrence of emergencies leading to maternal death or morbidity. Care-seeking is compromised because of the delay in deciding to seek care, identifying danger signs, reaching a health facility, receiving adequate and appropriate treatment at the health facility and many more. Birth preparedness and complication readiness is very essential and effective strategy that encourages mother, family and community to plan a safe delivery.OBJECTIVE:1. To assess birth preparedness and complication readiness (BPACR) for a safe motherhood among antenatal mothers attending an urban health centre under Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute.2. To identify the factors affecting BPACR METHODS: A facility based cross sectional study conducted in Urban Health Training Centre (UHTC) under Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI) between November 2016 to January 2017. The study was conducted among 144 pregnant women as per inclusion criteria by convenient sampling. A semi structured questionnaire was used to calculate socio demographic details, antenatal care and a validated scale on BPACR by Johns Hopkins was used to assess birth preparedness and complication readiness. Descriptive statistics and chi square tests were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: Overall BPACR score was 43.98%. Only 18.7% of women knew >8 danger signs of pregnancy. Less than half of them knew about JSY benefits of cash assistance (31.3%) and transportation services (28%). Sociodemographic factors like education, socioeconomic status, husband's education and type of family had statistically significant associations with BPACR components.

Preparation for birth and complication readiness: rural-urban disparities among pregnant women in communities in Enugu State, Nigeria

“…Pregnancy should be a normal physiological process that creates pleasure and anticipation for the woman as well the family and the community. However, the outcome is unpredictable, and a pregnant woman can have difficulties during the antenatal, intrapartum, or postnatal period, which can lead to the death of the mother or negatively affect the child [ 1 ]. The burden of maternal death is presently alarming; about 289,000 or more maternal deaths occurred worldwide in 2013 and 62% (179,000 maternal deaths) of these estimated deaths occurred in sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) alone [ 2 ].…”