ARTH is conducted a study on maternal morbidity with the following objectives:
- To estimate the burden of maternal morbidity in a rural community of north India
- To compare sequelae (physical, social, economic and psychological) among women with a normal delivery and those having severe and less severe complications occurring around the time of delivery
- To compare sequelae among women having a surviving perinate with those perinatal deaths
- To document care seeking patterns for selected maternal complications
- To review the current options for interventions at primary care level for key morbidities
The study consisted of the following components:
- A prospective cohort study examining short term consequences of pregnancy related morbidity.
- A qualitative study examining social and economic consequences of chronic obstetric morbidity (done in 2007-08): As part of this, freelisting exercise, 81 indepth case interviews with recently delivered women , 17 key informant interviews and 24 case studies of morbidities have been completed and results have been analyzed.
- Process documentation of interventions at primary care level to address key morbidities
Study area: 49 villages in two blocks of Udaipur district and in one block of Rajsamand district covering a population of 54,000.
As part of this, nearly 600 women were followed up at 6 weeks, 6 months and 12 months after delivery.