| |
No
antenatal
care (%) |
Inadequate
antenatal
care (%) |
Adequate
antenatal
care (%) |
| Western region |
13.5 |
37.1 |
49.5 |
| Eastern region |
61.7 |
27.7 |
10.6 |
| Southern region |
27.1 |
42.4 |
30.5 |
| Northern region |
34.0 |
38.2 |
27.8 |
| Urban areas |
22.5 |
39.1 |
38.4 |
| Rural areas |
49.0 |
34.0 |
17.0 |
| No education or primary
school incomplete |
62.4 |
28.0 |
9.6 |
| Secondary school or higher |
4.0 |
23.8 |
72.2 |
Table 2 Antenatal care rates by region, residence and education
It is shown that antenatal care generally starts early in Turkey with half of the visits starting before the fifth month of pregnancy. Antenatal care in the first trimester for first pregnancies is of great importance. Women receiving antenatal care were visited 4.7 times in average in Turkey and 46.8% of them were seen by a doctor
(Table 3).
| |
Inadequate
antenatal care |
Adequate
antenatal care |
| Midwife/nurse |
74.1 |
25.9 |
| Physician |
52.0 |
48.0 |
| Primary care public
institution |
68.9 |
31.1 |
| Public hospital |
58.7 |
41.3 |
| Private sector |
48.6 |
51.4 |
Table
3 Antenatal
care provider rates in 1998 |
|
|
1993
(n=3700) (%) |
1998
(n=3401) (%) |
| Health institution |
59.5 |
73.0 |
| Home |
40.2 |
26.9 |
| Physician |
33.7 |
39.8 |
| Midwife/nurse |
42.2 |
40.7 |
| Other (not health worker) |
24.1 |
19.4 |
| Unhealthy conditions |
24.0 |
18.5 |
| At home by assistance of
health workers |
16.5 |
8.4 |
| In health institution |
59.5 |
73.0 |
Table 4 Birth rates by place of delivery, birth attendance and birth conditions in 1993 and 1998
Place of Delivery: It is shown that the place of residence effects assistance rates at birth. The prevalance of births delivered by assistance of health personnel or doctor is significantly lower in places out of health institutions compared to births in health institutions. In 1993, 59.6% of all deliveries took place in a health institution similar to rates seen in 1988 and 75.9% of births were delivered by assistance of a doctor or other health personel
(Table 4). Obviously, the rate of deliveries under
attendance is higher than the rate of antenatal care (63%). Women living in eastern regions and rural areas show a lower rate of health care utilization .
Family Planning: Contraceptive methods that prevent unwanted pregnancies and induced abortions are well known by Turkish women. All women interviewed could report at least one method. The rate of ever married women with knowledge about efficient and modern methods was 86% in 1978, 90% in 1983, 97% in 1988 and raised to 99% in 1993 .
Although, contraceptive methods are well-known in Turkey, 37.4% of women
exposed to the risk of becoming pregnant are non-users, while 34.5% are
using an effective and 28.1% are using an ineffective method. The
proportion of women using an effective and modern method is higher in
Western regions compared to the Eastern and Northern Anatolia ( see
Table 5 next screen). |