Antenatal Care Utilization of Savara Tribe Women: A Most Vulnerable Tribe of Andhra Prades

This paper examines the patterns of antenatal health care utilization among the Savara Tribe Women of Andhra Pradesh. The aim of this study was to identify the knowledge, attitude and accessibility related to the utilization of antenatal care (ANC) service among Savara tribe women in the Srikakulam district, Data for this cross-sectional study were using a multi-stage random sampling strategy from 6 selected mandals in Srikakulam district. A total of 600 married women of reproductive age who had at least one child and had delivered the last child within two years from the date of data collection were interviewed using structured questionnaires. To get the antenatal check-ups, majority of the women were attended by traditional healers at their homes. During the antenatal care, the pregnant women were tested for body weight, blood pressure, hemoglobin, abdominal check-ups, haemogram and HIV/AIDS, but nearly 10.0% of Savara women have not received any one of these services. Almost all the pregnant tribal women have received 2 TT injections. Due to various reasons majority of the women are not consuming the IFA tablets, it needs more awareness about the importance of consumption of IFA tablets and the health workers and other family members should monitor the intake of IFA tablet by the pregnant women.