Awareness of potentially life-threatening conditions during or after delivery is low especially among the rural Bangladeshi women (Table-1). Awareness is highest for tetanus and prolonged/obstructed labor (57 and 52 percent of the women, respectively). Four in ten women mentioned retained placenta, and one in three women identified malpresentation of the baby to be life-threatening conditions.

Figure 1

Table-1 Percentage of ever-married women who are aware of specific postnatal maternal conditions during delivery, or after delivery that could be life-threatening for the mother, Bangladesh 2004

Although convulsions/eclampsia and excessive bleeding account for most of the maternal deaths in Bangladesh (as shown in the 2001 Bangladesh Maternal Health Services and Maternal Mortality Survey (BMMS) (NIPORT et al., 2003)), very few women (28 and 22 percent, respectively) mentioned these conditions as life-threatening complications.

Table 2 explains that urban illiterate mothers receive two times more postnatal care (PNC) from medically trained providers than rural illiterate mothers. But receiving PNC from medically trained providers among highly educated mothers is almost same both in the urban (69.2 per cent) and rural (68.4 per cent) area. Urban mothers, who have primary and secondary level educational qualification, receive more PNC from medically trained providers as compared to their rural counterparts. We also observe from the result that as the education level of mother increases conducting PNC by medically trained providers also increases. This result is also true for the education level of husband. Urban mothers who do not work for cash receive more PNC (69.5 per cent) from medically trained providers than those mothers who work for cash. But in the rural area almost the same percentage of receiving PNC from medically trained providers is found for both occupational categories of mothers.

Figure 2

Table 2: Percentage distribution of mothers by receiving postnatal care according to some background characteristics

Figure 3

Note: If more than one source of postnatal care was mentioned, only the provider with the highest qualifications is considered in this tabulation.

Medically trained provider: doctor, nurse / midwife, FWV, MA / SACMO, HA, and FWA

Non-medically trained provider: TBA, untrained TBA, unqualified doctor, and other

FWV= family welfare visitor; MA = medical assistant; SACMO = sub-assistant community medical officer;

HA = health assistant; FWA = family welfare assistant; TBA= traditional birth attendant.

Significant level: ***, ** and * indicate p<0.001, p<0.01 and p<0.05

We also observe from table 2 that the women, whose husbands are non-manual workers, receive more PNC from medically trained providers than their counterparts whose husbands are manual workers both in the urban and rural area. The study also explains that Muslim mothers receive (68.4 per cent) more postnatal care (PNC) from medically trained providers than their non-muslim counterparts in the urban area. On the other hand Muslim mothers receive (41.3 per cent) less PNC from medically trained providers than their non-muslim counterparts in the rural area. Urban mothers receive more PNC from medically trained providers than their rural counterparts in each division. But only in the Sylhet division receiving PNC from medically trained providers is approximately same in the urban and rural area. Urban mothers receive two times more PNC from medically trained providers than their rural counterparts in Rajshahi division. Wealth index plays an important role for receiving PNC from medically trained providers all over the country. Receiving PNC from medically trained providers increases with improving the economic condition of mothers both in the urban and rural area. Table 2 reveals that as the age of mother increases, receiving PNC from medically trained providers is also increased in the urban area but decreased in the rural area. The result depicts that receiving PNC from medically trained providers and children ever born is positively associated in the urban area and negatively associated in the rural area. Urban mothers receive more PNC (77 per cent) from medically trained providers as against their rural counterparts (58.6 per cent) who can tell about their pregnancy complications. The findings also elucidate that 69 per cent and 56.4 per cent mothers who receive antenatal care from medically trained providers are assisted by the medically trained provider after delivery in the urban and rural area respectively. The same proportion of mothers (92 per cent) receives PNC from medically trained providers among those mothers who are assisted by medically trained providers during delivery in the urban and rural areas of Bangladesh.

The fitted model considers receiving postnatal care as dependent variable and it is coded as 1 if the mother receives postnatal care from medically trained providers, otherwise it is 0. The corresponding results are presented in the Table 3.

Figure 4

Table 3: Logistic regression results for receiving postnatal care

Note: Ref = Reference Category and ***, ** and * indicate p<0.001, p<0.01 and p<0.05 respectively.

Joy E. Lawn analysis based on 38 DHS datasets (2000 to 2004)

with 9,022 neonatal deaths, using MEASURE DHS STATcompiler

(www.measuredhs.com). Used in: Save the Children-U.S., State of

the World’s Mothers 2006 (Washington, DC: Save the Children-U.S, 2006

Table 3 reveals that mother’s education has no significant effect on receiving PNC. Rural mothers, who receive ANC from non-medically trained providers, are 0.18 times less likely to receive PNC from medically trained providers and the urban mothers who receive ANC from non-medically trained providers are 0.81 times less likely to receive PNC from medically trained providers. Urban and rural mothers, who receive delivery assistance from non- medically trained providers, are 0.14 and 0.079 times respectively less likely to receive PNC from medically trained providers. Rural mothers, who use traditional toilet, are 0.315 times less likely to receive PNC from medically trained providers. Again urban and rural women who did not told about their pregnancy complications were .304 and .751 times less likely to receive postnatal care from medically trained providers than who told about their pregnancy complications. We have also noticed that the magnitude of odds ratios is not much wider between the poor and the middle and rich women in Table 3.