Abstract
BackgroundAchieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of improving maternal health has become a focus in recent times for the majority of countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Ghana’s maternal mortality is still high indicating that there are challenges in the provision of quality maternal health care at the facility level. This study examined the implementation challenges of maternal health care services in the Tamale Metropolis of Ghana.MethodsPurposive sampling was used to select study participants and qualitative strategies, including in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and review of documents employed for data collection. The study participants included midwives (24) and health managers (4) at the facility level.ResultsThe study revealed inadequate in-service training, limited knowledge of health policies by midwives, increased workload, risks of infection, low motivation, inadequate labour wards, problems with transportation, and difficulties in following the procurement act, among others as some of the challenges confronting the successful implementation of the MDGs targeting maternal and child health in the Tamale Metropolis.ConclusionsImplementation of maternal health interventions should take into consideration the environment or the context under which the interventions are implemented by health care providers to ensure they are successful. The study recommends involving midwives in the health policy development process to secure their support and commitment towards successful implementation of maternal health interventions.
Highlights
Achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of improving maternal health has become a focus in recent times for the majority of countries in sub-Saharan Africa
The developmental agenda emboldened in the MDGs address all countries of the world, sub-Saharan African countries (SSA) have the greatest challenges and stand to benefit most from the promotion of its principles, compared to other regions of the world
In Ghana it appears there are no enough studies on the challenges of implementing the MDGs with a focus on maternal health at the facility level [6,7]
Summary
Achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of improving maternal health has become a focus in recent times for the majority of countries in sub-Saharan Africa. A look at the above causes of maternal health problems calls for among other things, an examination of how the nature and relationship between the availability, distribution and execution of skilled health providers and health services logistics have impacted the implementation challenges of maternal health care services, with the Tamale Metropolis as a case study. This has become more relevant especially as it has been observed that policy implementation remains one of the major problems confronting developing nations, including Ghana. In light of these arguments we will first examine the challenges confronting midwives in the implementation of maternal health interventions and policies and secondly, find out the challenges of maternal health logistics in health care facilities in the Tamale Metropolis
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