Rural Women ’s Experience of Living and Giving Birth in Relief Camps in Pakistan

This study aimed to explore birthing experiences in relief camps of women who resides in disaster prone areas. The study findings can be used by the National Disaster Management Authorities and humanitarian agencies to make informed decisions about the provision of maternity care services in disaster or humanitarian emergency settings in rural Pakistan. Methodology Study site The study was conducted in five rural villages located along the bank of the Indus River of the Sindh Province of Pakistan. Due to their geographical location, the relative exposure to annual monsoon flooding is high in these villages. The human development and maternal health indicators of these villages were very low, which increases the residents’ vulnerability to respond to a natural disaster. The villages were geographically located close to a ‘district’ designated relief camp site which were established by the District Disaster Management Authorities (DDMA) during a crisis situation. These characteristics provided an ideal research site to explore maternity care challenges during the floods. Interview settings Purposive sampling is widely used in qualitative research to identify ‘information-rich’23 participants about a phenomenon of interest24. Women who gave birth during the floods between July 2011-September 2011 were selected as criterion of selection of participants for women interviews. There were 34 women who matched the criterion and were identified as a potential r...
Source: PLOS Currents Disasters - Category: Global & Universal Authors: Source Type: research