Risk and vulnerability of slum women during pregnancy in Bangladesh: a cross-sectional study from Dhaka City

Sadananda Mitra, Jawaharlal Nehru University

A cross-sectional study of 385 women from the Dhaka city aims to find the risky behaviour and vulnerability of slum women during pregnancy. The result reveals that the use of tobacco items during pregnancy was twice as high to the slum women as compared to the non-slum women. This study was conducted among the women of reproductive age group (15-49 years) who delivered birth within three years period at the time of survey in 2005. Dhaka, the only million plus city in Bangladesh, contains a considerable proportion of slum household with serious social barriers. Unhygienic sanitation, social deprivation in education, low health care during pregnancy is common in these marginal urban households. In addition to the risky behaviour like tobacco consumption during pregnancy, these slum women also have more health burden during childbirth viz. preexisting medical condition, complicated pregnancy history, complications during pregnancy and delivery, severity during pregnancy. The significant differentials of tobacco consumption are slum household, older women with higher order of parity, level of education, utilisation of care etc. The multivariate regression analysis shows that the chance of hemorrhage, premature delivery and retained placenta was higher for women who consumed tobacco during pregnancy in the slum household than that of non-slum women. Utilisation of care during pregnancy had reduced the tobacco consumption habit. Tobacco consumed mothers suffered multiple complications during pregnancy and delivery. To reduce the health burden of women during pregnancy, health education programme and special health services could be launched through preconception and prenatal care, for the socially backward women in the slum areas.