Has the Antenatal Care (ANC) Influenced Institutional Delivery in India

Nikhilesh S. Parchure, Population Research Centre
Hemkhothang Lhungdim, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

There is a consensus that to promote institutional delivery, pregnant women should be provided proper counselling and health care during pregnancy. In India, there is a disparity in access to health care services, particularly amongst the poor. After implementation of National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) institutional deliveries have increased many folds, but the fact remains same that coverage of ANC and Post-delivery care services is limited. Present study uses the data from NFHS-3 and DLHS-3 to see whether the ANC services are really influencing the institutional delivery pattern among poor and non-poor groups and its variation among different states.