Utilization of Free Maternal Health Services among Mothers having Children Less than 2 Years of Age
Abstract
Introduction: Maternal health is central issue
in each country as well as in global community.
In developing countries like Nepal, maternal
complications are the leading cause of death among
reproductive aged women. Appropriate utilization
of maternal health care services is very important
to reduce the maternal morbidity and mortality in
country. The study aim is to find out the utilization
of free maternal health care services in marginalized
population.
Materials and Methods: This is the descriptive
study conducted on slum areas of ward number 9 of
Pokhara Sub-Metropolitan city. Studied population
comprised of mothers having children less than two
years of age. Data were collected using structured
questionnaires consisting of 20 questions as well as
demographic and obstetric data from 76 respondents
from 2072/01/20 to 2072/01/31. Respondents were
selected by non-probability purposive sampling
technique. Prior to the data collection, permission
was obtained from concerned authorities (Pokhara
University and Pokhara Sub-Metropolitan). Data
were analyzed by SPSS version 20.0
Results : Less than one-fourth (24.60%) of the
respondents utilized free maternal health care
services with mean and standard deviation of 4.92±
1.42. Among them there was highest utilization
in the area of intranatal care services having
mean percentage of 29.39 and mean and standard
deviation of 1.76±0.43. One-fifth (20.07%) of the
respondents utilized antenatal care having mean
and standard deviation 1.605±0.49 and one fourth
(25.83%) utilized postnatal care having mean and
standard deviation 1.55±0.50.
Conclusion: Free maternal health services in
slum areas of Pokhara Sub metropolitan city
is underutilized and there is still need for more
utilization of free maternal health care services
among the mothers.