Abstract

BackgroundIncreasing skilled attendance during childbirth is well established in literature to play a significant role in averting the many preventable maternal deaths that occur in developing countries such as Ghana. Inadequate utilisation of skilled birth care services in Ghana is believed to be a major hindrance to efforts aimed at improving the health of women, especially during delivery. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of rural women regarding the utilisation of skilled birth care provided in the rural areas of Northern Ghana.MethodsThe study adopted a qualitative, exploratory, descriptive research approach, whereby individual interviews, observations and field notes were used to obtain a thick description of women’s experiences regarding the utilisation of skilled birth care services in the rural areas in Ghana. A purposive sampling approach was used to select 20 women who utilised skilled birth care in the rural areas of Bongo District of Ghana. Data collected from the interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed to identify themes.ResultsThe study identified three themes: The women had negative interactions with skilled birth attendants during delivery; women lacked confidence in skilled birth attendants’ abilities; skilled birth attendants disrespected the traditional beliefs of the women.ConclusionMost of the participants had negative experiences regarding the utilisation of skilled birth care. There is thus a need to develop strategies that could help address the above concerns of women to facilitate utilisation of skilled birth services in the rural areas in Ghana where there is low utilisation of skilled birth care.

Highlights

  • Increasing skilled attendance during childbirth is well established in literature to play a significant role in averting the many preventable maternal deaths that occur in developing countries such as Ghana

  • The Bongo district was chosen because the district is one of the districts in Ghana with low utilisation of skilled birth care provided by skilled birth attendants

  • Theme 3: skilled birth attendants disrespected the traditional beliefs of the women Disrespect for the traditional beliefs of the women was one of the experiences of women’s utilisation of skilled birth care in the study area

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Summary

Introduction

Inadequate utilisation of skilled birth care services in Ghana is believed to be a major hindrance to efforts aimed at improving the health of women, especially during delivery. In rural settings in Ghana, more than 30% of women deliver at home without the assistance of a trained health care professional [2]. It is reported by the World Health Organisation that inadequate utilisation of skilled. Adatara et al BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth (2019) 19:195 birth care services in Sub-Saharan Africa is a major hindrance to efforts aimed at improving the health of women, especially during delivery [3]. The exposure of women to poor care during labour and birth at home and by untrained TBAs, poses a great danger to the health of women [6]

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