Obstetric complications and delays in seeking emergency care in poor settings of northern India

Abstract

Purpose

Huge gap exists between demand and supply of seeking health care leads to remain high maternal mortality in rural areas of Uttar Pradesh, India. The purpose of this paper is to make an effort in this direction.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper draws on Three Delays Model to understand the reasons behind poor maternal health outcomes among 964 currently married women aged 15–34, given birth in last two years preceding the survey including six case studies in poor settings of Northern India.

Findings

Receiving minimum four antenatal care and identifying the severity of obstetric complications during pregnancy was quite low (7 and 34 per cent, respectively). Major delay in seeking care in district was decision delay (average four days) followed by arranging transportation (average 4 hours) and start treatment within an hour after reaching health facility. Health services and trained human resources are mainly concentrated at towns and poor supply of drugs and equipment in labour room is always in demand at primary level in the district in area. Delays in decision making, travel and treatment compounded by ignorance of obstetric complications and poor healthcare infrastructure are the major contributing factors of maternal deaths in the district in area.

Originality/value

Interventions to improve timely seeking of medical care for obstetric complications may need to more effectively target husbands and family members rather than women. Strengthening of primary and secondary level facilities and timely referral to tertiary level care can play a crucial role in improving obstetric care in the district in rural areas.

Citation

Khan, N. (2018), "Obstetric complications and delays in seeking emergency care in poor settings of northern India", International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare, Vol. 11 No. 5, pp. 333-346. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHRH-10-2017-0057