Coverage assessment of maternal and child health services provided at Urban Health and Nutrition Day in urban slums of Jamnagar Municipal Corporation area

Abstract

Introduction: Urban Health and Nutrition Day (UHND) is an initiative to provide preventive, promotive, and curative maternal and child health services monthly on fixed day. It is mainly designed to reach out to those who are living in urban slums and for serving vulnerable. The study was conducted to assess the utilization of services provided to mother and child at Mamta session.Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in urban slums of Jamnagar. In the first stage, 30 Anganwadi centers were chosen by systematic random sampling, and in the second stage, 8 postnatal women with 8 children were included.Results: Out of 240 participants, 80% of women registered their pregnancy at Mamta session and 86% were having Mother and Child Protection Card at the time of visit. Basic health checkups containing blood pressure and weight were measured for around 90%, three-fourth of women were checked for hemoglobin % and urine for albumin, and only 29% were done with abdominal examination. Health education component was found to be much-sidelined portion of UHND session in both mother and child care in this study. From surveyed children, 81.6% were registered at session site; from those registered, 62% attend the session regularly; 80% of children were weighed; only 12% of children's weight was recorded in Mamta card; and 50% of mothers were explained about weight and its interpretation. Fifty-four percent of women had given colostrum to their babies, and the same proportion of mother gave prelacteal feed to their children.Conclusion: There is a need to sensitize health workers about the importance of giving health education to mothers which is found to be the most poorly executed component of the study.