A cross sectional study on utilization of postnatal services in rural health training centre, Chandragiri, Andhra Pradesh

Introduction: Majority of maternal deaths can be prevented through appropriate maternal health services. According to NHFS-3 postnatal care tends to be low at 36%, percentage of deliveries with a post natal checkup in India is 41.2% and in Andhra Pradesh it is 73.3%. Percentage of deliveries with a post natal checkup within 2 days of birth is 37.3% in India and 64.1% in Andhra Pradesh.1 In developing countries like India; the utilization of basic health services has remained poor. Materials and Methods: A community based cross sectional study conducted among 211 women at rural health training centre, Chandragiri. Women who had delivered more than six weeks ago (completed puerperal period) and within six months after delivery were included in the study. Results: The mean age of study subjects was 23.1±2.1 years. Of the total study subjects, majority (90.1%) were aware about postnatal services and 186 (88.2%) utilized postnatal services. Conclusion: Knowledge and utilization of post natal services are good in the present study area especially at peripheral level. Health education programmes should be implemented to further increase the utilization. Keywords: Post natal care, Post natal services, Utilization, Maternal health.