The health status of women, which includes their phy~ical mental, and social condition, is affected, in addition to their biological and physiological problems, by the prevailing norms and attitudes of society regarding their needs and capacities. These attitudes influence the provision and utilization of preventive and curative health care facilities, including maternal, care services.
The cultural norms that particularly affect women's health are attitudes to marriage, age of marriage, fertility rate and sex of the child, the pattern of family organization, the place of the woman in the family, and the expected role of the woman as defined by social conventions. All these factors have important demographic implications. Cultural insistence on early marriage, high fertility, idealization of the roles of mother and house-wife affect her physical and mental health. The process of subservience starting at a young age, taboos and restrictions which start with menstruation, and reluctance to consult a doctor, particularly a male doctor, result in a general neglect of women's health. Various studies, particularly from developing countries, indicate that the main health problems of women are: higher maternal and infant mortality, maternal morbidity; lower expectation of life at birth; malnutrition; mental disorders; high suicide rate; and certain sex-selective diseases. As child-bearing and rearing is still the dominant role assigned to women, maternity becomes a special problem in the context of the socioeconomic status of the bulk of the population with inadequate housing, sanitation, and poor medical facilities.
The indications of women's health in India are drawn from two sources
Participants