Family-centric safe motherhood approach for marginalized young married couples in rural India

BACKGROUND: India contributes high broaden of maternal and child death globally. Over the past decade, there has been considerably improvement in maternal and child health indicator in India with intervention of national health mission. However, inequalities in basic health outcomes, lack of access and poor quality of medical care still exists. Marginalized, poor, and rural populations have noticeable low health indicators. AIM: The aim of this study isto describe the design, implementation, and baseline findings of “family centric safe motherhood approach among marginalized young married couples in rural India. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: To establish a baseline, we completed 1347 interviews in 100 villages from two rural blocks (Balotra and Siwana) of Rajasthan, India. METHODS: The progress of health outcomes is to be measured by set of indicators. Based on results, intervention package was developed. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: The data were entered in SPSS 22 version. Bivariate analysis was performed. RESULTS: Around two-fifth of couples (42.9%) used any temporary contraceptive method. Although the percentage of antenatal care (ANC) in the first trimester (77%) was high, but only 10% of them received three or more ANC check-up. Institutional delivery was reported to be 64.5%. Less than 10% of the women reported that they received quality of ANC (7.1%) and 32.7% was tetanus vaccination coverage in the study area. Aware of any contraceptive method was above 92.7% and 64.3% of respondents have an intention to use any family planning method in the next 12 months. CONCLUSIONS: These data provide a baseline of crucial information for evidence-based action on maternal and child health at rural inaccessible villages. Our baseline estimates will facilitate the evaluation of interventions and feasibility of scaling up of intervention.