Utilization of Health Services under Janani Suraksha Yojna in Rural Haryana

Objective: To study the utilization of health services by mothers during antenatal, natal and post-natal period under Janani Suraksha Yojna (JSY). Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in rural areas of two districts of Haryana as per the rate of institutional deliveries. A total of 48 sub-centers were selected by multistage random sampling. 1386 JSY beneficiary mothers were interviewed by house-to-house visits, after obtaining informed consent. Results: Majority 1216 (87.5%) of the study subjects were registered between 12-26 weeks of pregnancy whereas only 170 (12.3%) of them were registered within first 12 weeks. Around one-fourth of the mothers did not receive the recommended minimum three antenatal check-ups. The coverage of TT immunization was 92.1%. Majority 1253 (90.4%) of the deliveries were institutional. More than three-fourth of the home deliveries were conducted by trained dais and 15% of the home deliveries were conducted by untrained persons. Out of the 1253 institutional deliveries, 84.6% were conducted in Government institutions while 15.4% deliveries were conducted in Private hospitals. About two-third mothers received at least three post-natal care visits by the health functionaries. Discussion: Janani Suraksha Yojna is an ambitious scheme serving as a safe motherhood intervention under NRHM. It has been fairly successful in promoting institutional deliveries but the key components of Essential Obstetric Care i.e., early antenatal registration, minimum three antenatal care visits, three post-natal care visits still need strengthening.