Practices like heating the birth place, applying mustard oil to the stump of epithelial duct, and bathing the baby before long once birth were common in urban areas. Early initiation of breast-feeding, use of prelacteal feeds and breast-feeding from another girl are common practices current in urban areas.
Most deliveries took place either in a separate room or some place inside the house which is similar to the report from an earlier study . An earlier study has highlighted that cattle-shed deliveries were contributing to higher rates of infant mortality in the remote rural areas of Nepal . Such practices were not reported in our study. Studies from rural areas have underscored the role of mother-in-law for assistance during the delivery and care of newborn . But in our study, mother-in-law was present during delivery in only a small proportion (5%) of home deliveries. More than half of the deliveries were attended by neighbors. Such a difference may be due to demographic structure of the urban population in which many families may be economic migrants and nuclear families. Earlier studies have confirmed the extremely low presence of skilled government health staff or traditional birth attendants during delivery in rural areas of Nepa Maternal and child health workers who are identified as key birth attendants by the policy makers were not present at delivery in our study either. This study highlights that skilled attendance at home deliveries is very low in urban areas also. Previous studies found that about 15% of the mothers had delivered alone at home. This may emphasise the low status of women in the society and the gender inequities in health.