Socio-demographic determinants of Iron and folic acid (IFA) consumption by females during their antenatal period delivering in a tertiary care hospital of Haryana

Abstract

Introduction: In India, the major causes of maternal mortality are hemorrhage (26%) and anemia (19%). According to NFHS -4 data, 53% of women are anemic, this situation further worsens when these anemic women come into the antenatal phase, as there is haemodilution during pregnancy. In Haryana, only 32.5% (NFHS-4, India- 30.3%) mothers had taken 100 IFA tablets during her pregnancy. IFA tablets are being provided free of cost during antenatal visits/checkups but even then its consumption is low whose reasons need to be found out. Aim and objectives: To find out the socio-demographic factors affecting Iron and Folic acid consumption among recently delivered women. Material and methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out from April 2017- April 2018 among 500 pregnant females who recently delivered at PGIMS Rohtak. A simple random sampling technique was followed. An interview schedule was used for data collection and data were analyzed using SPSS. A Chi-square test was applied. Results: Out of 500 study subjects, the majority (70.4%) belonged to rural area.97.4% of them were Hindus, 81.4% were literate, 77.2% were unemployed, only 26.4% belonged to below poverty line. 80% of subjects were anemic and only 38.2% of study subjects consumed 100 or more IFA tablets. A significant (p≤ 0.05) association was found between IFA consumption and age, education, and occupation. The influence of caste, family type, socio-economic status, and religion was not statistically significant (p>0.05). Conclusion: Women and their family members need to be educated regarding the consumption of IFA tablets and their role in pregnancy.