Full Length Research Article MATERNAL HEALTH STATUS IN TRIBAL AREAS OF BANKURA DISTRICT OF WEST BENGAL, INDIA

Over half a million women die each year due to complications during pregnancy and birth. The vast Majority of these deaths are preventable. The overall health status of Tribal Women was not good due to array of causes like lack of medical facilities and outreach medical centres. Th e present study was undertaken to know about the maternal health status of Bankura district of West Bengal, India. Sample population was selected from 6 tribal dominated Blocks of South Bankura. A total 406 samples (N=406) were selected for the study. All respondents belong to the tribal community; sanitation facility of the respondents was very poor. With the increase of age, the physical conditions of the respondents deteriorate significantly . Most of the respondents avail themselves of ANC as well as PNC but only 75.3 % avail of the recognised institutional delivery with assistance of doctor, nurse or auxiliary nurses. Sanitation facility and Kitchen also had a significant effect on pregnancy complications. Received ANC were highly positively and signific antly correlated with PNC. Pregnancy complications significantly increased with the non institutional delivery.