Open AccessEarly Postpartum Morbidities and the Associated Factors in the Field Practice Area of a Tertiary Care Institution in Andhra Pradesh - A Cross Sectional Study
Author(s) -
Sunita Sreegiri,
Phani Madhavi Kajana,
Dhanalakshmi Balaga,
Kesava Lakshmi Prasad Kandipudi,
Devi Madhavi Bhimarasetty
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of evidence based medicine and healthcare
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2349-2570
pISSN - 2349-2562
DOI - 10.18410/jebmh/2021/245
Subject(s) - medicine , health facility , cross sectional study , postpartum period , maternal morbidity , postpartum haemorrhage , rural area , obstetrics , pregnancy , family medicine , pediatrics , environmental health , population , health services , pathology , biology , genetics
BACKGROUND The status of maternal health in developing countries is often described in terms of maternal mortality alone. Data on maternal morbidity is inadequate as there is no proper reporting system. Improving maternal health and reducing maternal mortality has been the critical concerns of the international community. So, the present study was undertaken to identify and determine the factors associated with early postpartum morbidity among mothers in the rural field practice area of Rural Health Center (RHC), Simhachalam, Visakhapatnam. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted among post-partum mothers in the early postpartum period, registered with Rural Health Centre (RHC), Simhachalam, from March 2019 to November 2019 using a pre-tested semi structured questionnaire. Study was conducted among 335 postnatal mothers. List of antenatal mothers registered in RHC Simhachalam was obtained. Antenatal mothers who had their expected date of delivery (EDD) between April 2019 and Aug 2019 and were available in Simhachalam in the post-partum period were contacted after getting information about their delivery from local Multipurpose Health Worker (MPHW). The mothers were visited and interviewed between day 7 and day 10 at their home and information on morbidity was obtained. RESULTS Most common complaints seen in the early postpartum period among the study participants were easy fatigability [214 (63.7 %)], headache in 140 (41.66 %), pedal oedema [131 (39 %)] and facial oedema [27 (8.0 %)]. Almost 67.85 % of mothers were anaemic. Among the obstetric related complaints, lower abdominal tenderness was the most common [196 (58.3 %)] followed by heavy vaginal bleeding [138 (41.1 %)], episiotomy wound swelling / pain [90 (26.8 %)] and postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) [46 (13.7 %)]. Episiotomy wound infection [24 (7.12 %)] and Caesarean wound infection [12 (3.57 %)] were seen together constituting around 10. 7 % among mothers. CONCLUSIONS The incidence of morbidity in the early postpartum period was high with 82.5 % of the mothers presenting with one or more morbidities. KEYWORDS Maternal Morbidity, Early Postpartum Morbidity, Post-Natal Mothers