Dissertation (MSc Midwifery)
Background: There is increase rate of home delivery that put women at risk of adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes. There has been an effort on structural barriers to facility delivery leaving behind reasons like respecting personal preferences during delivery and the quality of intrapartum care provided during delivery.
Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the influence of perceived quality of intrapartum care and respect of personal preferences during delivery on the choice of place of delivery among women in Mara Region.
Methods: This was a community based analytical cross sectional study involving 222 women who was obtained through simple random from Mara region. Questionnaire was used to collect information, and the data collected were analysed using SPSS 20 version. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used in the data analysis and presentation.
Results: A total of 222 women of mean age 27±6.1 years were included in the study. About 53.2% delivered their current baby at home and were attended by the TBA. Those who perceived good quality of intrapartum care at home 55% and those believed their personal preferences during delivery at home were respected was 87 %. Two items (waiting time and breast feeding) of perceived quality of intrapartum care showed significant association with the choice of place of delivery of the current baby. Women who were satisfied with waiting time during delivery of the previous baby at home were almost seven times more likely to deliver again at home for the current baby (AOR 6.501). Moreover those women who believed their personal preferences were respected by allowed to deliver on bed at home were 8-times and at hospital 6-times more likely to deliver at home (AOR 8.453) and (AOR 6.798) respectively.
Conclusion: This study revealed that perceived quality of intrapartum care and respecting of personal preferences during delivery of the previous baby determines the place of delivery of the current baby.