Reproductive Health – A Cross Sectional Study among Construction Female Workers in Chennai City

Women's reproductive health is not merely associated with physical health of the individual but it cuts across many psychosocial and economic aspects.

To analyse the socio economic condition and factors that influence reproductive health.

Consecutive sampling technique and mixed method was used to collect data. In the quantitative method, semi structured interview schedule was administrated to 300 female constructive workers from various pick up points while fifteen in-depth interviews and two focus group discussion was used to collect data in the qualitative part.

Mean age of the respondents was 28yrs, the mean age of marriage was 24yrs, and thirty two percent of them were married before the age of 18ys, sixty three percent of them had not even completed middle school. Majority of the respondents had more than two children while three fourth of them expressed that they preferred male children. Majority of the respondents had access to government health care services and three percent of the respondents had delivered their children at home in their home towns. More than eighty percent of them did not have say in child spacing.

Male participation in sharing responsibility for contraception or family planning was low. All the respondents experienced verbal abuse and more than one three fourth of them had experienced physical abuse. There was association between income and age of the women and physical abuse experienced. No significance was found between education and physical abuse experienced.

The study exhibits evidence to low literacy and income, lack of decision making skills in child spacing and presence of domestic violence. All these factors are great hindrance to good reproductive health.