PERCEPTION REGARDING BIRTH OF A FEMALE CHILD: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY IN KANPUR CITY

The present study was conducted in order to observe the actual reaction of the society to the birth of a girl child and assess whether there was a male preference prevalent in the society. A cross-sectional survey was done on 187 pregnant women who gave birth to a child, at Lala Lajpat Rai Hospital, Kanpur, using a pre designed questionnaire to measure the various attributes related to the nutritional intake. About 55.4 % mothers were happy with the girl child but 78.8% were happy for the boy child. Although 71.9% of the grandparents were happy for their granddaughters, 97% were happier for the grandson in the family. And among the couples with birth order of >2, about 52.8% had planned pregnancy, 89.9% didn’t have previous elective abortion and 90.9% didn’t get pre sex determination done. The study reveals that there is a male preference in the Indian society.