A Survey of Obstetric Healthcare Utilization in the Rural Western Indian Himalayas

Objectives To determine the socio-economic factors affecting access to antepartum, intrapartum, and postpartum healthcare in the rural Western Indian Himalayas over the past 20 years. Methods Face-to-face surveys were conducted with 197 women in Chamoli District, Uttarakhand from October 2011 to May 2012. Participants who gave birth within the past 20 years were included in the final analysis (n = 158). Stratified odds ratios and analysis of variance were calculated. Results Among women who delivered in the prior 7 years, there was a nine-fold increase (95 % CI 4–20.8) in institutionalized births compared to women who delivered 8–20 years before the study. Among women who delivered 7 years prior to the study, low income increased the risk of home delivery (OR 3.07, 95 % CI 1.15–8.54). Low caste (OR 2.79, 95 % CI 1.04–7.72) and low level of education (OR 3.93 95 % CI 1.41–11.81) decreased the use of antepartum medications (vitamins and vaccines). Remote location among all participants was a risk factor for not seeking care for obstetric morbidities (OR 0.44 95 % CI 0.2–0.95). Conclusions The incidence of institutionalized delivery has increased over the past decade in rural Uttarakhand. Income, caste, education, and remote location correlated with poor access to antepartum and intrapartum healthcare. These correlations have increased in statistical significance over the past 20 years, except for location. This indicates that the Western Himalayas face similar challenges to obstetric service utilization as the north Indian plains and that several of these inequalities in healthcare access have become more pronounced in recent years.