ARI Working Paper Series

This study was undertaken to investigate the symptoms of ill health and health seeking behaviour during the puerperium (42 days following delivery) among six hundred mothers following their recent live birth in Kalutara district of Sri Lanka. Almost all these deliveries occurred in an institution, with only 10 per cent being cesarean section. Prevalence of symptoms of ill health during the puerperium was quite high; excessive bleeding, painful urination, breast engorgement and shivering were most common. Mothers of the study population in general believe that ill health following a delivery is inevitable, thus they sought treatment only when they perceived that a particular type of symptom was ‘serious’.

Treatment was primarily from tertiary level institutions of the state sector, while private sector treatment was opted for by only a quarter of the mothers due to the high cost. However, in some instances when immediate treatment was required, they preferred private sector since there were difficulties in getting treatment at immediate notice from the state sector.