Background: Postnatal period is a critical phase in the lives of mothers wherein most life threatening complications and maternal and infant deaths occur. Yet, this is the most neglected period for the provision of quality care. Almost half of postnatal maternal deaths occur within the first 24 hours and 66% occur during the first week. Objectives: i) To study the utilisation of post natal maternal health services in a rural area. ii)To study the socio demographic co relation of utilisation of post natal maternal health services. Methodology: A cross sectional community based study was carried out in a rural area of Panvel Taluka between Oct 2015 to Nov 2015. 210 women who had delivered in the last 5 years were included in the study. Analysis: was done using SPSS version 20 and applying appropriate statistics. Results: 72% women did not receive postpartum check-up within 1 week. Education was found to be the most significant determinant of post natal care utilisation. The major component of services in PNC period were seen to be physical examination (84.7%) and counselling on breastfeeding (86.6%), contraceptive advise 40%. Almost 50% were told about the warning signs in postpartum period. Only 8% were advised to be tested for anaemia and only 20% took IFA tablets. Conclusion: PNC visit within 1 week of delivery remains a neglected aspect. Other components of post natal care like warning signs and anaemia in postpartum period need to be emphasised.

Keywords: Post Natal Care; Utilisation of Maternal Health Services; Rural.