Perception and reach of maternal health care schemes in Salem District

Adolescent and illiterate mothers in India have higher threat of death during childbirth. Women from rural India are more vulnerable, as adolescent marriage and pregnancy is quite high. Though ante-natal checkups can detect and treat existing problems or complications, and help women to prepare for childbirth, a large proportion of women still do not seek such care. The reason for this pathetic state of affairs lies in the fact that they don't consider such checkups necessary. These women are dying because they are ignorant and lack awareness regarding antenatal care. Though Indian constitution assures its women the right to health, realization of the right to health cannot be achieved through the various schemes alone because large‐scale, sustainable change requires that we enlightening women on the various issues related to maternal health which could be brought about by mass media. Hence the current study aims at finding out (i) the coverage of maternal health care issues by electronic media (ii) the reach of the government schemes among rural women in Salem district and (iii) their influence. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed for the study.