title: Study on the factors associated with postpartum visits in rural China.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Postpartum visits (PPVs) have been advocated as a way to improve health outcomes for mothers and their infants, but the rate of PPVs is still low in rural China. This study aims to investigate the utilization of PPVs and to explore the factors associated with PPVs in rural China. Parity is the most concerned factor in this study.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional household survey was performed in two counties of Zhejiang province. Questions include socio-economic, health services and women's delivery data. Chi-square tests and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to identify factors associated with PPVs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  223 women who had a delivery history in the recent five years were enrolled in analyses. 173 (78%) of them were primiparous. Among the primiparous women, 43 (25%) had not received any PPVs. The majority, 27 (55%) of the 49 multiparous women, had not received any PPVs. Multiparous women were less likely to receive PPVs than primiparous women. Among 223 puerperal women, 47 (21%) had been compensated for delivery fee expenses. Women who received compensation were found to be more likely to receive standard (at least 3) PPVs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It was found that women with "second babies" were less likely to use PPVs. This could be an unintended consequence of the "one-child policy", due to fear that contact with public health facilities could result in sanctions. This phenomenon should be taken seriously by government in order to improve the health of babies and their mothers. Financial compensation for delivery fee charges can improve the use of PPVs, thus free-of-charge delivery should be promoted.
authors: Center for Health Policy Studies, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
authors: Hua
authors: H
authors: You
authors: Jianhua
authors: J
authors: Chen
authors: Lennart
authors: L
authors: Bogg
authors: Yuan
authors: Y
authors: Wu
authors: Shengnan
authors: S
authors: Duan
authors: Chiyu
authors: C
authors: Ye
authors: Xiaofang
authors: X
authors: Liu
authors: Hai
authors: H
authors: Yu
authors: Vinod
authors: V
authors: Diwan
authors: Hengjin
authors: H
authors: Dong
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010298:Parity; D049590:Postpartum Period / Q000502:physiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*