Choices and determinants of delivery location among mothers attending a primary health facility in Southern Nigeria.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The delivery locations of pregnant women contribute greatly to their birth outcome. The objectives of this study were to determine the choices and determinants of delivery locations among mothers attending a primary health centre (PHC) in southern Nigeria. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study among mothers attending PHC, West Itam, Itu, Nigeria. Data were collected using interviewer-administered questionnaire and analysed with STATA version 12.0. Level of significance was set at 0.05. RESULTS: A total of 185 mothers participated in the study. The mean age of respondents was 27.6 ± 5.2 years. The delivery locations of last pregnancy were health facility (64.9%), traditional birth attendant's place (23.3%), respondent's residence (6.3%) and church (5.4%). The top five reasons that influenced the choice of delivery locations were distance (45.4%), cost (34.6%), skills of healthcare workers (30.3%), drug availability (27.6%) and attitude of healthcare workers (26.5%). Utilisation of healthcare facilities for delivery increased significantly with level of education and income of respondents and spouses (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Different non-institutionalised delivery locations were utilised by some of the respondents. Factors influencing women's choices of delivery locations included distance, cost and attitude of health workers. It is recommended that pregnant women be offered free or highly subsidised healthcare services to encourage their delivery at health facilities. Healthcare providers should endeavour to develop better relationship with clients who patronise their services. Female education should also be encouraged as this would empower them to make better choices about their health services options.