By TCN News
New Delhi: A study published in the online journal PLos One has found poor migrant Muslim women to be one of the groups least likely to use safe medical care for child delivery.
The study used the data from the National Family Health Survey, 1992–93 and 2005–06 and for the purpose of this study grouped the household wealth and migration status into four distinct categories poor-migrant, poor-non migrant, non poor-migrant, non poor-non migrant.
The analysis found that “more women from Christian/Sikhs/Other religions utilized safe delivery in 1992 (80%) and 2006 (90%). However, in both survey rounds, safe delivery was least utilized by Muslim women (55% in 1992 and 66% in 2006).” Figures for Hindu women were 70% in 1992 and 80% in 2006.
Only 49% of Scheduled Caste women used safe delivery care in 1992 which jumped to 64% in 2006.
“There were differences in safe delivery by region of residence in both rounds of survey, and showed that utilization of safe delivery was lower among women residing in the central region (51% in 1992 and 57% in 2006), while it was higher among women from the southern region (85% in 1992 and 92% in 2006),” journal authors Prashant Kumar Singh, Rajesh Kumar Rai, and Lucky Singh noted in the paper published online on Sept 7, 2012.
Even with low level of assisted delivery, infant and under-5 mortality is low among Muslims. [Sachar Report]
The study which also looked at the migratory status of women in addition to their social category found that “the likelihood of using safe delivery care was lower among poor–migrant women belonging to the Muslim religion (OR = 0.613, 95% CI = 0.368–0.812) compared to women belonging to the Hindu religion. Similarly, the odds of utilizing safe delivery care was found to be less likely among Scheduled Caste women with a poor-migrant status (OR = 0.414, 95% CI = 0.291–0.720) than among women from other castes. “
Number of maternal death per 100,000 live births (MMR) has declined in India from 600 in 1990 to 200 in 2010. Still Indian is home to 19% of world MMR deaths.
Safe delivery for the purpose of this study was deliveries at home or in a medical institution assisted by a trained medical personnel. India has made it a goal that 100% of all deliveries be in the presence of trained medical personnel.