To study the utilization of antenatal services among the pregnant women of rural amritsar : an interventional study

Background: Health status of women is one of the most serious social issues affecting the community particularly in developing countries. Women are more vulnerable during the reproductive period. If women remain healthy during the antenatal period, then this leads to a healthy newborn. Hence, intervention during antenatal period is essential. Objectives: 1. To study the utilization of maternal health services. 2. To study the impact of interventions regarding the utilization of antenatal services. Material and Methods: The study was conducted in village Naagkalan of Amritsar district from 1st January, 2014 to 31st December, 2014. This study included all the pregnant women of the village. Author filled in the predesigned and pretested questionnaire, containing questions regarding registration, antenatal checkups and utilization of services including IFA supplementation, Tetanus immunization etc. Results: The antenatal registration before intervention it was 90% while after intervention almost 100% registration was done. 22.73% women still preferred to visit private practitioners. Even after intervention, IFA compliance rate was 82.88%. Conclusion: This study found that although there has been considerable improvement after intervention in the utilization of antenatal care, these evidence based results can be further used for better delivery and utilization of maternal care services for the optimum health of the pregnant women.