A Study to Assess the Knowledge on Female Foeticide
and Attitude towards Gender Preference among Prim Gravida Mothers attending OPD
in a selected hospital with A view to Provide Informational Booklet
Juhi Gupta1, Sathish Rajamani2
1Assistant
Professor, Ved Nursing College, Panipat.
2Professor, Ved Nursing College, Panipat.
*Corresponding Author Email: sat2careu@gmail.com
ABSTRACT:
Background
of the study: Female feticide is the
process of finding out the sex of the fetus and undergoing abortion if it is a
girl. This is one of the most prevalent issues today. The preference for the
male child dates back into history and obviously, therefore, female feticide
has long been practiced in Indian societies. With the advancement in technology
and development of easier and cheaper techniques, female feticide has spread
throughout India. The government has amended the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal
Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act of 1994 that criminalized prenatal sex
screening and female feticide, making it illegal in India to determine or
disclose the sex of fetus to anyone. Objectives: To assess the knowledge
and attitude of prim gravida mothers regarding Female Foeticide. Methodology:
this study was done with non-experimental research survey research design.
Study was done in KC General Hospital, Bangalore. Sampling technique for
selecting 60 samples was non – probability convenience sampling technique. Data
collection was done with self – structured knowledge questionnaire and likert
scale was developed to assess attitude of the samples. Data collection period
was for 30 days and interview method was employed in collecting data and the
collected data were analysed through descriptive and inferential statistics. Results:
The present study shows the overall knowledge total score of mean and standard
deviation scores were 7.52 
2.67 and the overall attitude mean and standard
deviation score was 37.0 
4.30. the correlation between knowledge and attitude
was 0.359 which indicates mild positive correlation Conclusion: The samples in
the study had inadequate knowledge and unfavourable attitude towards female
feticide and gender differences. The researcher administered information
booklet to the samples to increase their knowledge and to develop their
attitude.
KEYWORDS: Knowledge, Female Foeticide, Attitude, Gender
Preference, Mothers.
INTRODUCTION:
Women are
murdered all over the world. But in India a most brutal form of killing females
takes place regularly, even before they have the opportunity to be born. Female
feticide--the selective abortion of female foetuses - is killing upwards of one
million females in India annually with far-ranging and tragic consequences.1
In the past in India, a strong preference for sons made unwanted female infants
susceptible to infanticide at the hands of midwives. Today, amniocentesis,
which allows identification of sex in utero, has led to abortion of unwanted
female foetuses. The incidence of this practice is revealed by the presence of
an adverse sex ratio in many states.2
A family is the
most fundamental unit in the human society. The household size and its
composition are an important aspect of the family, and the society at large. A
balanced sex ratio plays a vital part in bringing out, and maintaining a stable
society. People in India exhibit a strong gender preference for male child and
this discrimination or prejudice continues in spite of socio-economic development
and higher growth rates.3-4 The preference for sons has been
associated with preferential abortion of female fetuses and even to female
infanticide. This differential treatment given to the girls and the
sex-selective illegal abortions has resulted in estimated 30 to 70 million
“missing” women in India.5
NEED FOR THE
STUDY:
In a first ever global
study on female infanticide by Asian Centre for Human Rights, a Delhi-based NGO
dedicated to protection of human rights, it has been revealed that preference
of son over daughter is a major reason for female infanticide in many countries
around the world. Dowry system in South Asia, which makes daughters “an
unaffordable economic burden”, also contributes to female infanticide.6
India accounts for 45.8 million of the world’s 142.6 million “missing females”
over the past 50 years, a report by the United Nations. Missing females are women
missing from the population at given dates due to the cumulative effect of
postnatal and prenatal sex selection in the past, the agency said. Between 2013
and 2017, about 460,000 girls in India were missing’ at birth each year.
According to one analysis, gender-biased sex selection accounts for about
two-thirds of the total missing girls, and post-birth female mortality accounts
for about one-third.7
The problem of infanticide could be
addressed only through a multi-dimensional approach, having effective
strategies to address the issues of gender equity, community awareness against
the killing of girls, means to address the needs of fertility regulation and
effective enforcement of the legislation.8 It is only by a
combination of monitoring, education campaigns and effective legal
implementation that the deep-seated attitudes and practices against women and
girls can be eroded.9 It’s high time we end this barbaric practice.
Now is the time to energies efforts to put gender equality at the top of international
peace and development agenda. The researcher by extensive review of literature
found that very less effort is being implemented to assess the primi gravida
mother’s knowledge about female feticide and gender preference at the grass
root level. Here comes the role of community health nursing professional
to build awareness in the community regarding the prevention of female feticide
and gender preference. So the researcher felt need to conduct a study to
assess the Knowledge on Female Feticide and Attitude Towards Gender Preference
and to administer information booklet to the primi gravida mothers visiting K C General Hospital, situated in
Malleshwaram, Bangalore.
OBJECTIVES:
1.
To assess
the knowledge of prim gravida mothers regarding Female Foeticide
2.
To assess
the attitude of prim gravida mothers regarding Gender Preference.
3.
To
correlate knowledge on female foeticide and attitude score on gender
preference.
4.
To find
out the association between knowledge attitude towards gender preference and
selected demographic variables.
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK:
This
study focus to assess the knowledge of the primi gravida mothers regarding female
foeticide and Attitude of Primi gravida Mothers regarding gender Preference in
selected hospital, Bangalore .
According to Bertalanffy’s general system
theory, a system is a group of elements that interact with one another in order
to achieve the goal. An individual is a system, because he or she receives
input from the environment. This input when processed provides an output. This
system is cyclical in nature, and continues to be so, as long as these parts
keep interacting. If there are changes in any of the parts, there will be
changes in all the parts. Feedback from within the systems or from the
environment provides information, which helps the system to determine whether
it meets its goal.10
Fig 1: Modified Conceptual Framework Based
on Bertalanffy’s “General System Model”
METHODOLOGY:
Descriptive survey research design was
selected for this study to assess the knowledge on female feticide and attitude
towards gender preference. The study was conducted in K C General Hospital,
situated in Malleshwaram, Bangalore. The investigator used non-probability convenient sampling
technique for the selection of the sample. Size of the sample in this study was
60 primi gravida mothers who fulfilled the inclusion criteria’s. tool’s for
collecting data were structured by the investigator which consisted of three
parts which consisted of demographic variables, structured knowledge
questionnaire and likert scale to assess the attitude. Data collection
technique was interview method and the collected data were analysed through
descriptive and inferential statistics.
RESULTS:
Table
1: Frequency and percentage distribution of demographic variables among the
primi-gravida mother (n=60)
|
Demographic variables
|
Frequency
|
Percentage(%)
|
|
(n=60)
|
|
A. Age in years
|
|
|
|
20-24
|
4
|
6.7
|
|
25-28
|
36
|
60
|
|
29-32
|
16
|
26.7
|
|
33
-35
|
4
|
6.7
|
|
B. Education
|
|
|
|
Illiterate
|
12
|
20.0
|
|
Primary
school
|
8
|
13.3
|
|
High
school
|
19
|
31.7
|
|
PUC/Diploma
|
15
|
25.0
|
|
Others
|
6
|
10.0
|
|
C. Occupation
|
|
|
|
Coolie
|
5
|
8.3
|
|
Housewife
|
46
|
76.7
|
|
Business
|
1
|
1.7
|
|
Any
other
|
8
|
13.3
|
|
D. Source Of Information
|
|
|
|
Radio/Television
|
22
|
36.7
|
|
News
paper
|
30
|
50.0
|
|
Friends/
relatives
|
5
|
8.3
|
|
Health
personnel
|
3
|
5.0
|
|
E .Income
|
|
|
|
>20000
|
7
|
11.7
|
|
15001-20000
|
18
|
30.0
|
|
10001-15000
|
20
|
33.3
|
|
<10000
|
15
|
25.0
|
|
F. Religion
|
|
|
|
Hindu
|
47
|
78.3
|
|
Muslim
|
13
|
21.7
|
|
Christian
|
0
|
0
|
Table
1 depicted the frequency and percentage
distribution of demographic variables of the primi gravida mother. In the
present study, age wise distribution showed that, about 36 (60%) of the
subjects belongs to 25 to28 years of age group, Education wise the distribution
of the subjects include 19(31.7 %) mothers had high school education, In
relation to the occupation of the Primi Gravida mother about 46 (76.7%) mothers
were house-wives, With respect to Source of Information, about 30 (50%) mothers
got information from Newspaper. Income of the family includes, 20 (33.3%)
mother’s family earn up to 10001-15000, With regard to religion maximum number
of the mothers 47 (78.3%) belongs to Hindu.
Table
2 depicted the level of knowledge of
the primi gravida mother. About 48 (80%) of the primi gravida mother had
inadequate knowledge, 12 (20%) primi gravida mother had moderate knowledge and
none of them are having adequate knowledge.
Table
2: Distribution of primi gravida mother according to their level of knowledge (n = 60)
|
Level of knowledge
|
Frequency
|
Percentage
|
|
Inadequate knowledge -
(<50%)
|
48
|
80%
|
|
Moderate knowledge -
(51-75%)
|
12
|
20%
|
|
Adequate knowledge -
(>75%)
|
0
|
0%
|
Table
3: Distribution of the primi gravida mother according to their level of
attitude.
(n
= 60)
|
Level of attitude
|
Frequency/ number
|
Percentage
|
|
Unfavourable attitude -
(<50%)
|
34
|
56.66%
|
|
Neutral attitude - (51-75%)
|
26
|
43.33%
|
|
Favourable attitude -
(>75%)
|
0
|
0%
|
Table
3: depicted the level of attitude of
the primi - gravida mother. Majority of 34 (56.66%) primi gravida mother belongs
to Unfavourable attitude, 26 (43.33%) primi - gravida mother had Neutral
attitude and none of them had favourable attitude.
Table
4: Range, Mean, Mean percentage, Median and standard deviation of Knowledge and
Attitude of primi gravida mother (n
=60)
|
S. No
|
Areas
|
Max score
|
Range
|
Mean
|
Mean%
|
Median
|
SD
|
|
I
|
Knowledge
|
20
|
2-14
|
7.52
|
37.6
|
7
|
2.67
|
|
II
|
Attitude
|
50
|
27-48
|
37
|
37
|
37
|
4.3
|
Table-4:
It represents the range, mean, mean percentage, median and standard deviation
of Knowledge on female foeticide and attitude towards gender preference among
prim gravida mothers. With regard to knowledge the overall tool consists of
maximum score of 20, The present study showed that the samples had a range of
2-14 the overall knowledge total score of mean is 7.52 (37.6% of mean
percentage), median was 7, with a standard deviation of 2.67. With regard to
attitude the range, mean, mean percentage, median and standard deviation of attitude.
The five point Likerts scale consists of the maximum possible score of 50. The
attitude score ranging from 27-48, mean value is 37.0 (37% of mean score
percentage), median was 37, with a standard deviation of 4.30.
Table 5: Correlation of Knowledge on female
feticide and attitude towards gender preference among prim gravida mothers in
tabulated form.
(n = 60)
|
Variables
|
Pearson correlation
(r-value)
|
P value
|
|
Knowledge vs Attitude
|
0.359
|
0.005*
|
(*
indicate significance)
Table
– 5 showed the correlation between knowledge and attitude towards female
feticide and attitude towards gender preference among prim gravida mother.
The
‘Karl Pearson’ correlation co-efficient value for knowledge and attitude was
0.359, which indicates mild positive correlation.
DISCUSSION:
The findings of the present study were supported by
the following supportive studies. Study done by Kaushal A, Rana N, Sharma P,
Minhas A and Singh M (2019) with an objective to assess the knowledge and
attitude of married females residing in rural area of district Kangra, Himachal
Pradesh, toward declining sex ratio and female feticide prevalent in the
society. A predesigned semi‑structured questionnaire containing sociodemographic
details of the family and knowledge and attitude questions was used. Result of
the study showed that One‑third heard about declining
female‑to‑male ratio. Killing of fetuses was known to 84% of female
respondents. Only 24.5% were aware about law related to abortion and prenatal
sex determination. The reason for decreasing sex ratio was quoted as preference
for a male heir (62.3%). Around 60% of females have been harassed by a male and
48.1% have at least once felt not to have a female child.11
Kaur H and Sachdeva S.G (2014) done a study to assess the knowledge and Attitude
about Female Feticide among women attending outpatient department in a tertiary
care hospital Punjab. A questionnaire was utilized to enquire about their
knowledge and attitude towards the practice of female feticide and its effects
on the society. The study was conducted from January 2016 to February 2017.
Study results indicates 100 % of the respondents were aware of the activity of
female feticide prevalent in India and especially in the states of Punjab and
Haryana.54 % of the respondents (n=798) were of the opinion that knowing about
the sex of the child before birth by prenatal ultrasound or other techniques.12
CONCLUSION:
Study findings revealed the presence of inadequate
knowledge and unfavourable attitude was present commonly among majority of
primi gravida mothers regarding female feticide and gender differences. Thus
educating these samples regarding these issues seems to be more priority, hence
the researcher had developed information booklet on female feticide and gender
differences. This will upgrade the knowledge level and improves the primi
gravida mothers attitude on the same.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST:
Not declared.
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