Prenatal Care
Conditions
Keywords
prenatal care, community-based randomized controlled trial, perinatal mortality, China
Brief summary
The general objective of this study is to evaluate prenatal care in the specific context of rural China. It also aims to define the optimal content of prenatal care for the context of rural China, to evaluate the effect of such prenatal care on infant and maternal outcomes, using a community based, well designed controlled trial in rural counties. Finally, it aims to describe the process of conducting a controlled study using community resources.
Detailed description
The study was conducted in a rural county of 900,000 people in Anhui province, in eastern China. The total area of the county is almost 3,000 square kilometres. The majority of the population of the county is engaged in farming. In terms of national GDP rankings, the study county is typical of less developed rural areas in China. Twenty townships (10 interventions and 10 control) out of a total of 55 were selected - on the basis of having sufficient health facilities and staff - for a controlled trial on the introduction of systematic prenatal care in the area.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALtraining
The intervention consisted of 1) training township midwives, 2) informing women and men in the community of the importance of prenatal care, 3) providing intervention township hospitals with basic medical instruments used in prenatal care (i.e. blood pressure monitors, weighing scales for mothers and newborns, stethoscopes).
Sponsors
Shanghai Medical University, School of Public Health, China
Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
FEMALE
Age
20 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* pregnant woman in program area (in 20 townships) from August 2000 to March 2003
Exclusion criteria
* outsiders of program area
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| perinatal mortality | Jan 1999-Dec 2003 |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| timing and frequency of prenatal care and hospital delivery rate | Jan 1999-Dec 2003 |
Countries
China
Outcome results
None listed