Social classification and maternity practices in Aurangabad, India

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Sociology
• Urban Studies

Background:

• Social classification is crucial for understanding health disparities.
• Traditional methods of social stratification can be time-consuming and resource-intensive.
• Urban areas present unique challenges for accurate social assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of social classification based on residential locality in Aurangabad.
• To compare this method with traditional occupation-based social classification.
• To analyze maternity practices within different social strata.

Main Methods:

• A house-to-house survey of 3870 individuals across 823 families in five Aurangabad localities.
• Social class determination based on housing characteristics of residential areas.
• Comparison of residence-based classification with occupation-based classification.
• Data collection on maternity practices, including delivery location and attendant.

Main Results:

• Residence-based social classification proved to be an inexpensive and rapid assessment tool.
• 661 deliveries were recorded, with 67.62% occurring in health institutions.
• 31.16% of deliveries were home births, with traditional birth attendants (dais) or relatives attending 20.27% and 10.89% respectively.
• Significant proportion of home deliveries indicate a need for improved maternal healthcare access and support in urban settings.

Conclusions:

• Social classification by residential locality offers a practical and efficient alternative for urban research.
• The high rate of home deliveries underscores the necessity for targeted interventions.
• Training and integration of traditional birth attendants (dais) in urban maternal healthcare are essential.