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Antenatal Care (ANC) includes education, counseling, screening and treatment to monitor and promote the well-being of the mother and fetus. However, the utilization of ANC services is a complex phenomenon influenced by many factors, such as maternal education, maternal employment, accessibility, affordability, family support and decision-making power etc. Objectives: 1. To determine the extent of utilization of antenatal care (ANC) services among antenatal mothers. 2. To identify the factors affecting utilization of antenatal care (ANC) services among antenatal mothers. Materials and methods: An exploratory study was conducted to assess the factors affecting utilization of antenatal care (ANC) services among antenatal mothers at selected rural communities of Amritsar. Stratified sampling technique was used to select 60 antenatal mothers. Data was collected using the semi structured questionnaire to assess the factors affecting utilization of antenatal care services among antenatal mothers. Results: Most of antenatal mothers (93.3%) were registered and 4(6.7%) were not registered for their pregnancy (investigator came to know at the time of home visit). 50(83.3%) antenatal mothers had adequately utilized antenatal care services. Major factors which affect the utilization of ANC services as reported by antenatal mothers were accessibility (53.3%), family support (33.3%), affordability (26.7%). Conclusion: There is adequate utilization of ANC services though some factors act as barrier in the utilization of ANC services. Health care professionals should determine the factors causing poor or irregular utilization of antenatal care services and find the ways to improve it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Gestational diabetes mellitus has become one of the very common perinatal complications. It is a disorder of carbohydrate metabolism diagnosed during pregnancy. Objective: To evaluate the knowledge and lifestyle modification regarding gestational diabetes mellitus among antenatal mothers. Methodology: A Cross-sectional design was used and the study was conducted in the antenatal OPD of a tertiary care teaching hospital of Western Rajasthan. The study included 140 antenatal mothers diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus and seeking antenatal care at antenatal OPD by purposive sampling technique. Knowledge was assessed using structured knowledge questionnaire and lifestyle modification by a structured Rating scale. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics and P<0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: Majority of the mothers in this study had fair knowledge (83.6%) followed by 10.7% having poor and 5.7% with good knowledge. Majority of mothers (97.1%) developed good level of lifestyle modification after being diagnosed with gestational diabetes and 2.9% had fair level of lifestyle modification. A very weak correlation was found between the knowledge and lifestyle modification (r=0.085). Only level of education was found to be significantly associated with knowledge regarding gestational diabetes (p = <0.01). Conclusion: Since the prevalence of gestational diabetes is increasing, there should be good knowledge and awareness regarding gestational diabetes among antenatal mothers. Health care providers should create awareness and improve knowledge of the mothers regarding gestational diabetes and its possible long term complications [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pregnancy is the vital event in the life of a woman. It needs special attention from the time of conception to the postnatal stage. Preparing for the childbirth is one of the most exciting times for a woman. The present study was aimed to determine the extent of birth preparedness and to find out the association of birth preparedness among antenatal mothers with selected demographic variables. An exploratory study was carried out among antenatal mothers residing at selected villages of Amritsar, Punjab. Data was collected from 100 antenatal mothers by convenient sampling technique. Birth preparedness interview schedule was adopted. Out of 100 antenatal mothers 69% had poor extent of birth preparedness followed by 31% had average birth preparedness. Majority (90%) of antenatal mothers had identified the place of delivery, 83% had identified the skilled birth attendant, 69% had arranged the transportation for delivery, 35% had saved money for delivery and only 10% had arranged the blood donor in case of an emergency. Seventy five percent, forty nine percent and forty one percent antenatal mothers knew ≤3 danger signs during pregnancy, childbirth and first two days after birth respectively and sixty six percent antenatal mothers knew ≤3 danger signs during the first seven days after birth that could endanger the life of new-born. Factors which showed significant association on birth preparedness was age, education, socio economic status and trimester at (p<0.05). It concluded that age, education, socio economic status and trimester resulted in better birth preparedness in the present study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]