Maternal Delivery at Home: Issues in India

Ou C.-Y. Yasmin M. Ussatayeva G. Lee M.-S. Dalal K.
January 2021 Adis

Advances in Therapy
2021 #38 Issue 1 386 - 398 pp.

Introduction: Maternal delivery at home without skilled care at birth is a major public health issue. The current study aimed to assess the various contributing and eliminating factors of maternal delivery at home in India. The reasons for not delivering at healthcare facilities were also explored. Methods: The study used the National Family Health Surveys (NFHS)-4 (2015–2016) data from states and union territories of India for analysis. A national representative sample of 699,686 women of reproductive age group (15–49 years) was used. Cross-tabulation and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed. Results: The prevalence of home delivery in India was 22%, among which 34% of women believed that institutional delivery was not a necessity. Financial constraints, lack of proper transportation facilities, non-accessibility of healthcare institutions and not getting permission from family members were the main reasons cited by the women for delivering at home. The proportion of home deliveries was much higher among women from more disadvantaged socioeconomic areas than women from less disadvantaged socioeconomic areas. Domestic violence and partner control were essential factors contributing to the prevalence of home delivery. However, the women who owned mobile phones and used a short message service (SMS) facility delivered at home less often. Conclusion: Policymakers should focus more on the women living in disadvantaged socioeconomic areas and other marginalised populations with less education and low economic levels to provide them with optimum delivery care utilisation. Strengthening of public healthcare facilities and more effective use of skilled birth attendents and their networking are essential steps. Electronic and economic empowerment of women should be emphasised to bring about a significant reduction in the proportion of home deliveries in India.

Empowerment , Home delivery , India , Maternal health , Maternal mortality , Socioeconomic neighbourhood disadvantage index , Women’s health

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School of Public Administration, Nanfang College of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
Kolkata Hematology Education and Research Initiatives, Kolkata, India
Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and EBM, Faculty of Medicine and Health Care, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Department of Education and Human Potentials Development, National Dong-Hwa University, Hualien, Taiwan
Department of Public Health Science, School of Health Sciences, Mid Sweden University, Sundsvall, Sweden

School of Public Administration
Kolkata Hematology Education and Research Initiatives
Department of Epidemiology
Department of Education and Human Potentials Development
Department of Public Health Science

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