Abstract

VELASQUEZ HURTADO, José Enrique et al. Evaluating maternal child care practices in extreme poverty areas in Peru, 2012. Rev. perú. med. exp. salud publica [online]. 2014, vol.31, n.2, pp.243-253. ISSN 1726-4634.

Objectives. To evaluate maternal and child care practices in areas with extreme poverty in Peru. Materials and methods. Cross-sectional study conducted between August and September 2012; with probabilistic, three-stage stratification by “department” (geographic region) sampling. 540 households were selected that had at least one child younger than 36 months (475 households) and/or a pregnant women (80 households), in rural areas of Cajamarca, Amazonas, Huanuco, Ayacucho, Huancavelica, Apurimac, Cusco, Puno and Ucayali. Results. Regarding the last pregnancy, 69.0% of the mothers reported having had their first prenatal care in the first trimester; 65.3% reported having completed more than six check-ups throughout the pregnancy; 81.1% reported having given birth in a health facility, and only 31.0% chose a method of family planning within 42 days postpartum. With regard to the last child under 3 years old, 64.1% had early mother-infant contact, and 62.8% initiated breastfeeding within one hour of birth. In addition, 89.6% of children under 6 months old exclusively received breastfeeding and 89.1% of children aged 6-8 months old already had received complementary feeding. Fever, diarrhea, vomiting and breathing difficulty were the most mentioned warning signs for seeking care for children. Conclusions. Through this study, a baseline has been established on which a strategy can be designed and implemented to improve best practices for maternal and child care as part of the “Programa de Apoyo” within the Health Sector Reform

Keywords : Child care; Maternal and child health; Prevention and control; Health evaluation.

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