The urban poor and obstetric outcome.

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to establish whether obstetrics outcome is related to social deprivation in developing countries. 1 squatter settlement in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia has been measured. In 1981 home visits were made to 191 families and observations were recorded using a check list and questionnaire. A social deprivation index was constructed using the following indicators: 1) family size; 2) crowding in home; 3) family income; 4) marital status of the mother; 5) mothers education; 6) mothers occupation; 7) family possessions housing sanitation; and 8) source of water supply. 4/5 of the mothers fell into the more severely deprived group. More than half the mothers were married before the age of 20; 5% of them were married before 15 and the youngest age recorded was 13. About a quarter of the mothers in the squatter areas had experienced 5 pregnancies the average ranging between 2-4. Of a total of 237 mothers in the high deprivation group 182 (77%) had experienced anemia during at least 1 pregnancy compared to 35 (57%) in the low deprivation group. 19% of all mothers had suffered postpartum hemorrhage and more than 90% of these belonged to the high deprivation group. 8 cases of eclampsia were recorded amongst the highly deprived. 42% of all mothers gave birth to babies with low birth weight. More than 4/5 of the mothers were in the high group. The most striking finding was the low incidence of breastfeeding. More than half (59%) of the mothers did not breastfeed at all; 65% of the low group mothers and 58% of the highly deprived mothers did not breastfeed. Amongst the breastfeeders 42% did so for less than 6 months.