Afghanistan Mortality Survey 2010 - Measure DHS

About one-third (32 percent) of mothers who received ANC report that they had been informedabout pregnancy complications during their antenatal visit. About two-fifths of pregnant women (40percent) were weighed, 90 percent had their blood pressure taken, 32 percent had their urine sampled, andabout one-third of women (30 percent) had their blood tested.The content of ANC is clearly linked to a mother’s education, wealth, residence, and birth order.For example, nearly half of women with higher education (47 percent) were weighed and the majority (96percent) had their blood pressure measured, compared with 39 percent and 89 percent, respectively,among women with no education. Women in the highest wealth quintile and those in urban areas are morelikely to have urine and blood tests than their counterparts. Less than one-quarter of women (24 percent)in the lowest wealth quintile received information about pregnancy complications, compared with onethirdor more among the remaining women. Rural women (34 percent) are more likely than urban women(29 percent) to report that they were told about the signs of pregnancy complications during their ANCvisits. The relationship between the quality of ANC and remoteness is less clear.The overall quality of ANC services for rural women has improved markedly in the past fiveyears as is evident when the AMS findings are compared with the results of the AHS 2006 (JHUBSPHand IIHMR, 2008). 3 The percentage of rural women informed of pregnancy complications increased from14 percent to 34 percent over the last five years, while the percentages of rural women who were weighedor had their blood pressure measured increased from 16 percent to 41 percent and from 23 percent to 90percent, respectively, over the same period. Similarly, there are substantial differences between the AHS2006 and the AMS 2010 in the percentage of rural pregnant women whose blood (14 percent versus 29percent) or urine samples (13 percent versus 31 percent) were taken.4.1.6 Tetanus Toxoid VaccineTetanus toxoid injections are given during pregnancy to prevent neonatal tetanus, a major causeof death among infants. For full protection, a pregnant woman should receive at least two doses duringeach pregnancy. If a woman has been vaccinated during a previous pregnancy or during maternal andneonatal tetanus vaccination campaigns, however, she may only require one dose for the currentpregnancy. Five doses are considered to provide lifetime protection.Table 4.6 presents the percentage of women age 12-49 with a live birth in the five yearspreceding the survey whose last birth was protected against neonatal tetanus. Births to three out of fivemothers (60 percent) in the five years preceding the survey were protected against neonatal tetanus. Halfof pregnant women (50 percent) received two or more tetanus injections during their last pregnancy.Mothers age less than 20 years and mothers of births of order 5 or less were slightly more likelyto have received two or more tetanus injections during their last pregnancy than older mothers age 35-49and mothers of birth order 6 and higher. Though there is hardly any variation in relation to urban and ruralareas, there are marked differences in tetanus coverage by zones. Sixty percent of women in the Northzone received two or more tetanus toxoid injections, compared with women in the Central zone where theuptake was much lower (44 percent). Women in the South Eastern region are least likely to receive therecommended dose of tetanus toxoid during their pregnancy (29 percent) and also least likely to havetheir most recent birth protected against neonatal tetanus. Education and wealth have a positive effect onwhether a neonate is protected against tetanus. For example, 70 percent of mothers with higher educationhad their child protected against neonatal tetanus, compared with 57 percent of mothers with noeducation. Similarly, 64 percent of mothers in the highest wealth quintile had their child protected againstneonatal tetanus, compared with 53 percent of mothers in the lowest quintile. A similar relationship isseen between tetanus coverage and remoteness. Women in the fourth and least remote quintiles are mostlikely to have their last birth protected against neonatal tetanus.3 Similar information was not collected in the NRVA 2007/8.Maternal Health | 73