Pregnant women in urban slums need health facilities to reduce child mortality
30 January 2023
A
2021 Bangladesh Urban Health Survey (BUHS), conducted by the National
Institute of Population Research and Training, shows that only 40 per
cent of pregnant women in slums received over four antenatal care
checkups. WHO guideline recommends a minimum of eight visits to reduce
prenatal mortality -- the number of stillbirths and deaths in the first
week of life -- and improve expectant mothers' care, majority of the
slum women hardly visit physicians, resulting in complexities, stunt,
and underweight and malnourished childbirth.
Compared to mothers in
non-slum areas, those in slums don't receive the required antenatal or
postpartum healthcare, nor have access to essential prenatal
micronutrients or a trained birth attendant. Inadequate visits to the
maternal clinics can cause major complications, nutrition imbalance, and
delivery or family planning difficulties. Missing vaccines can lead to
other health issues. Pregnant mothers are also recommended to take iron
and folic acid, calcium carbonate, and vitamin B supplements with a diet
rich in nutrition-dense foods.
An overwhelming majority of the
expectant mothers in slums showed a preference for home births unless
they experienced earlier pregnancy complications or suffered from any
life-threatening conditions. Almost half of all slum mothers prefer to
deliver at home, even though facility deliveries have increased by 17
per cent in 2021 from 2013. Health and nutrition experts say slum
mothers must get priority in the government's nutrition programmes,
especially after the pandemic largely affected their dietary patterns.
In children of urban slums, the rates of under-5 stunting are 34 per
cent, wasting is 16 per cent and being underweight is 28 per cent. All
three rates are the highest compared to other urban areas.
In the
2022-23 fiscal, 7,740 poor expecting and lactating mothers of Dhaka
South and North are supposed to receive Tk 800 per month under social
safety net support. But this number represents only 0.62 per cent of the
mothers in the capital's urban areas compared to the total targeted
beneficiaries. For comparatively strong community networks, NGO
activities, and union parishad-centric social service delivery, rural
women are now more aware of the government's social safety net
facilities. The government and development partners should focus on
urban poverty and bring the urban poor under the social safety net.
