Association of socioeconomic disparity of the pregnant women with adverse pregnancy outcomes

Socioeconomic status of the pregnant women is a key determinant of the pregnancy outcomes. The government of India has started several health schemes to provide appropriate antenatal care for the pregnant women. The present study aimed to assess the association of socioeconomic status of pregnant women with adverse pregnancy outcomes after the implementation of these schemes. The present study used Kuppuswamy scale to determine the socio-economic status of the study subjects and pregnant women of both upper and lower SES class without major pregnancy complications were recruited into the study. These subjects were followed up until delivery, and their adverse pregnancy outcomes such as lower segment cesarean section (LSCS) delivery, preterm birth, low birth weight (LBW) and neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission were reported. In the present study, the rate of LSCS, preterm birth, LBW and NICU admission was high among the lower SES group as compared to the upper SES group women. However, NICU admission had a statistically significant association with SES of pregnant women at p=0.038. The difference in the occurrence of adverse pregnancy outcomes among the upper and lower SES pregnant women is minimal, which could be attributed to the enrolment of lower SES pregnant women to the government health schemes. Hence, to overcome the economic disparities among the pregnant women, the implementation of government health schemes should be strengthened by promoting the role of the accredited social health activist (ASHA) worker.