Utilization of postnatal care among Nepalese women

Abstract

This study investigated risk factors associated with the type of birth attendants and timing of postnatal care among a nationally representative sample of Nepalese women. The 2006 Nepalese Demographic and Health Survey on women age 15-49 years old who had delivered within 3 years prior to the survey (N = 4,136) was used. Multivariate logistic regression was employed to study the association between socio-demographic variables and type of birth attendants and timing of postnatal care. Only 23 % deliveries were assisted by skilled attendants. A majority of Nepalese women did not have postnatal check-ups. Education (OR = 1.46, 95 % CI = 1.11-1.92), wealth (OR = 2.57, 95 % CI = 1.59-4.15) and sufficiency of advice during pregnancy (OR = 3.09, 95 % CI = 2.16-4.41), were all independently associated with having postnatal check-ups. Similarly, maternal age, education, parity, wealth, sufficiency of advice and place of delivery were associated with having delivery assisted by a skilled attendant. The utilization of postnatal services is still very low in Nepal. Public health interventions are needed to increase the utilization of postnatal care as well as delivery assisted by skilled attendants. Such interventions should target poor women, the less educated and those in rural areas in Nepal.