Background and aim: This paper attempts to present an overview of the reproductive health of women living in the slum of Baalu Adda in Lucknow. Based on random sampling 50 married women were selected to study.
Method: In this intensive anthropological fieldwork, random sampling was done and the data was collected by face-to-face interview schedule, followed by scientific analysis of data and report writing.
Result: For accurate analysis, data acquired was related to the Reproductive Health of Women which included hygiene and health conditions during their menstruation, family planning, special care for women during and after their pregnancy, and gynecological health problems. The population has been stratified on the criteria of their reproductive age at the time of data collection, so 70% of women married were below 18 years and 30% above 18 years. After inquiring about their menstrual hygiene, it was found out that more than half of the total sample population females i.e., 52% used cloth at their time of the menstrual cycle, either due to unawareness or unavailability of resources or due to their poor economic condition they could not afford it. Family planning also plays a vital role in various aspects especially when it comes to women’s reproductive health but among the people of the slum, 60% of couples were not aware of the use and benefits of contraception and why family planning is important? They were not aware of the fact that without a proper gap between two pregnancy cycles a female’s body gets weakened and they become more vulnerable to suffering various gynecological, as mentioned in table-9. During pregnancy, the proper dietary intake of women is very important and it was observed that out of the total sample population i.e., 50, out of which 4 had no experience related to pregnancy and therefore out of the remaining 46 women in the slum it was observed that only 15 took special diet during their pregnancy which includes eggs, fruits, dal, sabji provided by the NGO, while rest of 31 women had poor dietary intake. Maintenance of proper hygiene also plays an important part in the whole pregnancy tenure, but unfortunately, all the women did not take baths regularly. Out of the total women population of the slum, 26 took a daily bath and the rest of the 20 took bath on an alternative day. Another objective of this holistic study was to examine the issues and challenges affecting the delivery of a child. In this context, we found that 30 women out of 50 delivered their babies at home by local midwives or dais. While the only those women who had complications at the time of delivery that could not be resolved by an untrained midwife had to visit a hospital, and there were only 16 such women who delivered their babies at government hospitals. All the women i.e., 50 (100%) of the area experienced several gynecological health problems, like irregular menstruation, white discharge with bad odor, itching, lower abdominal pain, pain during intercourse, urinary tract infection, difficulty in becoming pregnant, etc. due to their bad hygiene, carelessness towards their heath, ignorance of symptoms of these problems. The problems and the percentage of the respondents who experienced the problems are mentioned in table no 9.
Conclusion: It has been concluded, that the state of reproductive health of women in the area of Baalu Adda Malin Basti is very poor. Due to the absence of a gap between two consecutive pregnancies, the women have suffered from acute malnutrition and its effects can be witnessed among the children and the women themselves; they have experienced various health problems like excessive bleeding, foul smell, backache, etc., after their delivery.