Role of traditional birth attendants in maternal care services -- a rural study.

PIP: In India various programs have been launched to provide primary health care to women and children, particularly in the rural areas. However, the impact of these programs has not been significant. Though there is a provision of a trained dai (traditional birth attendant) in every village in the national program, most of the deliveries in rural areas are still conducted at home by untrained dais. This study was undertaken to find out about the decision of pregnant women in rural areas as regards the place of delivery and the nature of assistance received at delivery. Four villages in the Jawan Block, District of Aligarh, were randomly selected. All the villages were covered by the Integrated Child Development Services Scheme (ICDS). A total of 212 pregnant women were registered and each of them was contacted to inquire about the type of assistance received at delivery. 96.7% of the women were Hindus; 93.0% were illiterate and 68.5% were poor; 33.5% were high caste, 30.2% were low caste, and 30.2% were scheduled caste. Out of 212 deliveries, 205 (96.6%) were conducted at home. Assistance received at delivery (N = 212) was as follows: untrained dais (traditional birth attendants) 190 (89.6%); trained dais 0 (0.0%); prenatal care assistants 11 (5.2%); doctors 9 (4.2%); and relatives 2 (1.0%). The utilization of existing prenatal care services was meager, as the majority of pregnant women were illiterate and poor. As many as 205 (96.6%) deliveries were done at home. The finding that 89.6% deliveries were conducted by untrained dais assumes considerable significance in light of the fact that these villages of Jawan Block were among one of the first 3 ICDS blocks in Uttar Pradesh. This shows that there is still a wide gap between provision and utilization of maternal care services. Since most of the deliveries are conducted at home by untrained traditional birth attendants, the people must be educated to utilize the services of trained personnel.^ieng