부산대학교 도서관

Background: Maternal and infant mortality rates and prevalence of under nutrition are high in the State Madhya Pradesh. Regular ante-natal check-ups (ANC), delivery by trained health personnel, delivery practices and optimal infant feeding practices are important to reduce maternal and infant mortality. Objectives: The aim was to assess antenatal care, delivery and infant feeding practices of mothers of <1-year-old children in Madhya Pradesh. Materials and Methods: This was community-based cross-sectional study carried out in the rural areas of Madhya Pradesh by adopting systematic random sampling procedure. Data were collected from 5324 mothers having <1-year-old children. Information on household (HH) socioeconomic and demographic particulars was collected from the mothers. Bivariate and multivariate analysis was performed to study the association between dependent and independent variables. Results and Interpretations: About 36% mothers had undergone at least three ante-natal check-ups and 73% delivered either at government or private hospitals. Only 26% mothers initiated breastfeeding within 1-h of birth and 92% fed colostrum. Step-wise regression analysis showed that ante-natal care for <3 times was significantly (P < 0.01) higher among women with high parity (⩾5), illiterate women, and among lower socioeconomic group,s while home delivery was higher among women with high parity (⩾5) (odds ratio [OR]: 2.3), among Scheduled Caste and Tribe women (OR: 1.5), illiteracy of head of HH (OR: 2), and among lower socioeconomic groups (OR: 1.3). Discarding colostrum was higher among illiterate women (OR: 1.6), belonging to lower socioeconomic groups (OR: 1.4) and delivery conducted by untrained person (OR: 3.9), while initiation of breastfeeding after 1-h of childbirth was higher among ⩾30 years women (OR: 1.9), illiterate women (OR: 1.4), and delivery by untrained person (OR: 2.9). Conclusions: It was observed that antenatal care, delivery and infant and young child feeding practices were associated with type of community, literacy status of mother, wealth index and person conducting delivery. Hence improving the literacy mothers, delivery by trained person and increasing awareness about optimal infant feeding practices will help to reduce infant and maternal mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]