Factors Influencing Institutional Child Birth among Women in Aynalem Kebelle, Mekelle, Tigray, Ethiopia

Abstract

Giving birth is the most critical part of pregnancy intervention for improving maternal and child health in Ethiopia with maternal mortality ratio of 673 per 100,000 live births. The majority of births are delivered at home and the proportion of deliveries assisted by skilled attendant is very low. The present study assessed the factors influencing institutional child birthing among women in Aynalem Kebelle, Mekelle, and Tigray, Ethiopia.

A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted by using open and closed-ended semi-structured questionnaire developed from different literature. Data was analyzed using excel and SPSS and presented by graphs and tables. Written informed consent was obtained from the participants and confidentiality was assured for all the information providers.

Two hundred thirteen women were included in this study; of which 69% of the women gave birth at home, whereas 31% of the women gave birth at health institution. Among those who gave birth at home, 24% of the women faced different problems such as postpartum hemorrhage (PPH), retained placenta, and retained membrane which represented 51%, 27%, and 22%, respectively. Women’s decision-making power is another factor to decide for place of delivery; decision by husband and family have the largest percentage which represented 34% & 62%, respectively that made women to give birth at home.

The main reasons given by the participating women about home delivery were presence of relatives nearby, more trust on traditional birth attendants (TBAs), apparently healthy, male health workers assistance in the hospital, lack of privacy, and unfriendly of some of the staffs who were not committed to their work at health facility. Generally, women’s education is strongly correlated with positive maternal health outcomes. Based on our findings, high rates of illiteracy/low rates of school attendance among women had high level of influence on institutional childbirth practice.

Keywords: Childbirth, factors, women, Aynalem Kebelle

Cite this Article

Hailemariam T, Berhanu K. Factors Influencing Institutional Child Birth among Women in Aynalem Kebelle, Mekelle, Tigray, Ethiopia. Research and Reviews: Journal of Medicine. 2016; 6(2): 21–27p.