Community-based assessment of postnatal care in Puducherry-A cross-sectional study

Postnatal period is a neglected period compared to the antenatal period. Providing adequate care to infant and mother during this vital period is essential.

To assess the postnatal care (PNC) received by the mothers and newborn children in Puducherry.

Community-based cross-sectional study done among the postnatal mothers under the care of two urban Primary Health Centers (PHC A and PHC B) in Puducherry in 2015-2016. Eligible mothers were contacted at their houses within 4 weeks of completion of their postnatal period to assess the postnatal care.

Out of 227 postnatal mothers in the study, only 37.4% (85) (95%CI 31.3-43.9) of the mothers had received adequate counselling services on topics of nutrition, hygiene, contraception, essential newborn care, breastfeeding, and immunization. Cord care was given for 99.1% of the babies and breastfeeding position was checked for 88.5% of the babies. Among the mothers who had normal deliveries, 48.1% (76) (95% CI 40.4-55.9) of the mothers had initiated breastfeeding within 1 h of normal delivery and within 4 h of delivery for 72.4% (50) (95% CI 61.1-82.0) among the mothers who had a cesarean section. Only 20.7% (47) (95%CI 15.8-26.3) of the mothers and newborns had received at least one postnatal home visit and none of the mothers had received adequate postnatal home visits as per Indian Public Health Standards guidelines. Out of the 126 eligible mothers for JSY benefits, only 46% (58) (95% CI 37.5-54.8) of them had registered. Among those who were not registered, 20.6% had reported that they were unaware of the scheme. Out of 227 births, 14.1% (32) of them were of low birth weight (<2.5 kg) and 1.3% (3) were of very low birth weight (<1.5 kg) category.

Although the antenatal care is satisfactory in the study setting, implementation of PNC needed further attention and active guidance via health system strengthening.