Education and Maternal Health Status- A Corre...

Education and Maternal Health Status- A Correlational Case Study of Purulia District, West Bengal

Author Name : Arunima Bhattacharya

ABSTRACT

Women are the bearers of the future human resources of the country. Education provides a pillar for every growth project in a society. Maternal health can be defined as the care women get during their pregnancy period, from antenatal to delivery and postpartum care. Education and knowledge give women the opportunity to have access to the facilities of child care and looking after themselves.

However, in the poverty stricken, marginalised communities of the rural areas of Purulia district of West Bengal, this remains a problem. The paper evaluates the major hindrances of the would-be mothers towards availing the healthcare facilities.

The data collected from NFHS Reports of 2019-2020 and the Census data clearly denotes a positive co relation between the number of years in school and the maternal health status. There is an urgent need of awareness campaigns and several activities to make these people aware of their health and socio-economic status.

The overall literacy rate in Purulia in 2011 is 64.48% which is far below the state average of 76.26% of which the female literacy rate is 50.52%. the percentage of women availing antenatal and postnatal facilities are also nearly 55%.

Even after childbirth, the mothers are ignorant of the immunizations their children have to undergo and thus resulted in increasing number of malnutrition children and children with stunted growth. Thus, the healthcare facilities including antenatal, delivery care and postpartum should be extended to even the remote areas of the district. Generation of economic activities for women and awareness are the two strong notions in this regard. Each and every case of pregnancy and childbirth is unique and should be dealt in that way.

Keywords: antenatal, delivery care, education, maternal health, postpartum.