title: A diagnostic study of pregnancy experiences of married women in Iraq.
abstract: A pilot survey was recently undertaken among 301 married women below 50 years of age and having been pregnant at least once. These women lived in a rural environment: the first group in a peri-urban area which is developing rapidly, and the second in a traditional rural area. The survey elicited information on various aspects of the 1,476 pregnancies reported by the women in the sample, including infant mortality, complications in pregnancy, abortions, as well as the number of medical consultations. Data show that mother and child health services, on the whole, are not fully appreciated by mothers, who only visit the clinic when they have a problem. It is evident that health care is equated with curative treatment and that the positive dimensions of prevention and health maintenance are not properly perceived. The fact that in the more conservative areas 98.1% of births take place at home shows the existence of a traditional health system which is not sufficiently taken into account by health planners. In fact, local birth attendants and midwives represent for the health services untapped manpower which, if adequately trained, could help to eliminate the risks currently associated with home births.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003696:Delivery Rooms / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D007493:Iraq; D008393:Marriage; D008427:Maternal Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011247:Pregnancy; D012424:Rural Population; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors