Utilization of antenatal care services among scheduled caste Women in India

Objective: To assess the utilization of antenatal care services among currently married scheduled caste women in India. Methods: The data have been extracted from National Family Health Survey -3 (NFHS-3) conducted during 2005-06, all over India. A total of 6212 currently married scheduled caste women in the age group of 15-49 were taken as the sample for the study. Cross tabulation and binary logistic regression method were applied for determining the influencing factors. Results: Out of 6212 respondents, 19.8 of the scheduled caste women not received even a single antenatal care during their pregnancy period. 15.8 percent of the women not received Tetanus Toxoid injection and one-third (33.3) of the women not received Iron Folic Acid tablets during their pregnancy period. Only one fifth of scheduled caste women (21.4) fulfilled the minimum recommendation with regard antenatal care services. Conclusion: Age, education and wealth index were significantly associated for getting full antenatal care service among scheduled caste women. However, there is an urgent need for improving the implementation of reproductive health programmes and strengthening health education for scheduled caste married women especially pregnant women.