UTILIZATION OF MATERNITY SERVICES BY BLACK-WOMEN IN RURAL AND URBAN AREAS OF THE ORANGE-FREE-STATE

An epidemiological survey was undertaken to evaluate the utilisation o f maternal services for black women in the Orange Free State. Two hund red and forty clusters were selected from the rural (farms) and urban (local authorities) black population and eight households were intervi ewed in each cluster. Information was gathered from 237 rural women (f rom 959 households) and 168 urban women (from 926 households) who had delivered a baby or aborted during the preceding year. Antenatal care was received by 71% of the rural women and 87% of the urban women. Rur al women delivered at home in 60% of cases while 37% delivered in hosp itals, Only 23% of urban women delivered at home while 67% of their de liveries were conducted in hospitals. Nurses supervised deliveries in both instances in more than 60% of cases, but in rural areas tradition al midwives managed 26% of the confinements. The conclusions are that the maternity service was largely provided by nurses and was predomina ntly limited to hospitals and homes. It is recommended that the qualit y of service be upgraded and more emphasis placed on midwife obstetric units.