Abstract
To assess the prevalence of risk conditions among antenatal women in the Vavuniya District. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 392 pregnant women who had completed 36 weeks of gestation and were admitted or referred to two leading hospitals in the district. Women were interviewed consecutively using a questionnaire, and their antenatal details were extracted from records by trained investigators. Data on socio-demographics, antenatal care utilisation, risk condition in present and past pregnancies, and preexisting illnesses were obtained. Prevalence of an antenatal risk condition was 52.0%. The common risk conditions included teenage (9.7%) or elderly mother (14.3%), anaemia (8.2%) and abnormal BMI (8.2%). The common risk conditions due to past pregnancy were: history of abortion (19.3%), past caesarean delivery (8.0%), and stillbirth/neonatal death (4.8%). Less than half of the 'at risk' mothers were educated regarding the risk condition (47.5%) or referred to (48.5%) by the primary care providers. The majority was advised to deliver at a facility with emergency obstetric care. One in every two pregnancies in the Vavuniya District had an antenatal risk condition and services should be organised to meet this need.
Highlights
Improving maternal health is one of the millennium development goals to be achieved by the year 2015
Antenatal care (ANC) utilisation in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka is poor as a consequence of the long-term armed conflict
The Vavuniya District has a large population of internally displaced persons (IDPs) for more than two decades, with a dramatic increase in numbers within the recent past
Summary
Improving maternal health is one of the millennium development goals to be achieved by the year 2015. There are some underserved communities such as conflict-affected areas, estates and urban slums with poor maternal and child health indicators [6]. It was highlighted that the domiciliary care by public health midwives (PHM) and field antenatal clinic services were seriously affected due to shortage of staff in the district [7]. With this background investigation of antenatal risk conditions would be useful to deliver effective antenatal services in the area.
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