Access and barriers to maternal health program: a community perspective in a tribal area of Odisha, India

ABSTRACT

The janani surakhya yojana (JSY), a flagship programme of the national health mission (NHM), was implemented to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality by promoting institutional delivery among marginalised pregnant women in India. This study provides an account of the challenges faced by tribal pregnant women in accessing reproductive health care services. Primary data was collected from various maternal health stakeholders and expectant mothers using qualitative methods. The study adopted data collection methods like focus group discussions (FGDs) and in-depth interviews regarding the programme implementation of JSY at Jaleswar. Secondary data were analysed to understand the effectiveness of government policy in improving maternal health. The study indicates that despite an elaborate programme of action, there is low community perception and trust in bio-medical (mostly) procedures among the tribal population. The government programmes rarely compliment the tribal cultural construction of pregnancy and child birthing with existing medical and professional discourse.

KEYWORDS:

• National health mission
• tribal health
• social intervention
• reproductive health
• health policy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Nischaya kit provided by Government of India is used to identify pregnancy which detects the presence of Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) in urine. With Nishchay pregnancy test kit, hCG level above 25mlU/ml gives a positive test of pregnancy.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the University of Hyderabad [UoH-IoE by MHRD(F11/9/2019-U3(A)) and University Grants Commission, New Delhi, India with Grant No: UGC – REF. NO. 1995 (NET-DEC. 2009)/27 AUG 2010].

Notes on contributors

Ranjit Kumar Dehury

Dr. Ranjit Kumar Dehury is working as Assistant Professor, School of Management Studies, University of Hyderabad, India. His research focused on Health Systems Studies, Maternal Health, Healthcare Management and Sociology of Medicine.