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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Ekta Saroha, MA, School of Public Health, Department of Maternal and Child Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, RPHB 320, 1530 3rd Ave. South, Birmingham, AL 35294-0022, 205-617-0945, esaroha@uab.edu, Maja Altarac, MD, MPH, PHD, Department of Maternal and Child Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, RPHB 320, 1530 3rd Ave South, Birimingham, AL 35294-0022, and Lynn Sibley, PhD, CNM, FACNM, Lillian Carter Center for International Nursing, Emory University, 1520 Clifton Road, Room 428, Atlanta, GA 30322.

Background: Caste in India is an ascribed status that could hinder health care utilization. Few studies indicate that lower caste women inadequately utilize Prenatal Care (PNC), Iron Folic Acid (IFA), Tetanus Toxoid (TT), and trained professional birth attendants compared to upper caste women. Caste as a potential determinant of health care utilization has not been adequately researched in rural India. Objectives: To examine an association between caste and utilization of maternal health care services among Hindu women in Maitha, rural Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh (UP), India and to determine if the hypothesized association persists when socio-demographic factors are adjusted for. Methods: Data from Morbidity and Performance Assessment (MAP) study was analyzed using a sample of 512 Hindu women who gave birth at home during Jan 1998-Jan 1999. MAP was a population-based retrospective cross-sectional study, based on modified verbal autopsy method. Multiple logistic regression analyses was used to calculate the odds of disproportionate utilization of PNC, IFA, TT, trained professional attendance at birth and emergency care outside home during pregnancy and child birth by the upper caste Hindu women (UCHW) compared to the lower caste Hindu women (LCHW). Socioeconomic Status (SES) and sex composition of living children, other known determinants of maternal health care services utilization, were adjusted for. Results: Study results will be presented. Conclusion: Conclusions will follow.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant will be able to

• List the components of maternal health care that are disproportionately utilized by upper caste women.
• Identify other two barriers to utilization of maternal health care services by lower caste women.

Keywords: India, Prenatal Care

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No