PERSPECTIVES REGARDING ANTENATAL CARE,DELIVERY AND BREAST FEEDING PRACTICES OF WOMEN FROM BALUCHISTAN,PAKISTAN

Background: antenatal care is one of the fundamental rights for women to safeguard their health. neonatal mortality rates have remained relatively static,compared to the decline in infant and under 5 mortality rates,adverse practices regarding breast feeding and pre-lacteal feeds being the important factors responsible. this study aimed to explore the antenatal care,delivery and breastfeeding practices in three districts of baluchistan.methods: it was a qualitative phenomenological design using constructivist approach. the study was conducted in three districts of baluchistan province,gwadar,quetta,qila saifullah. there were a total of 14 focus group discussions with women regarding antenatal care,delivery and breastfeeding practices,followed by audio taping,transcription as verbatim and analysis through nvivo version 2. a process was deployed for identification and reporting of the components in order to ensure quality and validity of the qualitative findings.results: across the sites,women attended anc at least once. however,their descriptions of anc often varied. the women preferred dais instead of doctors,due to the affordability,customs and availability. a lack of trained doctors and long distances to get a check-up lead to home deliveries in the study setting. colostrum was discarded by majority of the mothers,while prelacteal feed was a common practice.conclusion: this paper has explored factors affecting anc attendance,delivery and breast feeding practices across three settings. both the demand and supply side factors have an important influence on practices.