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.