Title: Levels and Correlates of Self-reported Maternal Morbidity in Women in a Community outreach area of a Teaching Hospital in Bihar
Authors: Dr Manasij Mitra, Dr Gautam Sarker, Dr Maitraye Basu
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v8i1.06
Abstract
Background: Globally, maternal mortality ratio (MMR) dropped from 385 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 1990 to 216 in 2015, a 44% reduction. Despite substantial progress, maternal mortality still remains a matter of great public health importance. Maternal mortality indicates only the tip of the iceberg. For each woman who dies as the direct or indirect result of pregnancy, many more women experience life-threatening complications. Consistent with the higher rates of maternal mortality in LMICs, maternal morbidity rates are also higher in LMICs than HICs.
Objectives: The objectives of the study was to estimate the levels and correlates of self-reported maternal morbidity. The data was entered in Microsoft Excel and exported and analyzed in SPSS (v19.0). Descriptive statistics, bivariate and multivariate analysis were used to arrive at the conclusions in the study.
Methodology: This was a cross-sectional study on Maternal Morbidity using self reports without clinical examinations among women living in the community being served by MGM Medical College and LSK Hospital, Kishanganj, Bihar. The sample size of the study was calculated as 200 considering the prevalence of maternal morbidity in the state and after considering the possibility of nonresponse to the study.
Results: The prevalence of antenatal morbidity was found to be 23.5%, morbidity during labor was 16.5% while post partum morbidity was 25.5%. The overall maternal morbidity was 44.5%. Religion, occupation, past history of ailments, decision taking obtaining healthcare, access to pocket money, type of past delivery, type of last delivery, wantedness of the index pregnancy, food intake during the antenatal period, physical activity during the antenatal period and awareness of danger signs of pregnancy came out as significant correlates of maternal morbidity in the bivariate analysis. Finally food intake and physical activity during the antenatal period, awareness of danger signs of pregnancy and type of last delivery came out as significant correlates of maternal morbidity in the multivariate analysis.
Conclusion: It is evident from the findings of the study that the causes of maternal morbidity are deeply entrenched in the sociocultural milieu. The findings bring out the socio-economic context in which the women suffer from maternal morbidity and stresses on the importance of self-reported community based studies on maternal morbidity to understand the social determinants of maternal morbidity more and thus come up with plausible solutions.
Keywords: Maternal morbidity; Women’s autonomy; Antenatal; Labor; Post partum; Correlates.
