Review article on utilization of antenatal care services

Author: 
Uzma eram

Antenatal care (ANC) is the care of a woman throughout her pregnancy. Almost 90% of maternal deaths occur in developing countries and over half a million women die each year due to pregnancy and childbirth related causes. Many women in developing countries do not receive such care. The reasons for high MMR in India are inadequate access and underutilization of health services. Other common reasons are high illiteracy among females, early marriages, ignorance, malnutrition, social factors etc. So utilization of these services by the beneficiaries remain unsatisfactory. Awareness should be developed in the community about the importance of registration for ANC, educating women about detection of complications during pregnancy, importance of TT Inj., IFA tablet ,extra nutrition etc. Misconceptions and fears regarding child birth should be reduced during prenatal care so that it may contribute to an increase in the utilization of delivery services.

Paper No: 
1171