KARACHI, Nov 3: As many as 44 per cent of pregnant women are registered to be denied of quality food, a prerequisite for both the mother and the child to be born.

A recently-conducted study mentions that 54 per cent of the newborns die soon after their birth, while 12 per cent of them are delivered by traditional birth attendants.

A large majority of would-be-mothers are those married before attaining the age of 20, and 17 per cent of them fail to attain proper medical guidance. While 48 per cent of them are desirous to have a baby boy against 28 per cent willing to have a girl, 30 per cent of them were found to be under tremendous pressure of their relatives to deliver a boy.

Though a significant majority of women about to deliver their first baby are generally extended necessary emotional support by their relatives, the scenario changes in case of second or third delivery. Two per cent of these women resort to tranquillizers to overcome depression.—APP