Determinants Of Skilled Birth Attendance In The Mamprugu Moagduri District, Northern Region

ABSTRACT

The fifth Millennium Development Goal calls for a reduction of maternal mortality ratio by 75% between 1990 and 2015. A key indicator to measure this goal is the proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel. The maternal mortality ratio of Ghana in the year 2013 was 154 deaths per 100,000 live births. High skilled birth attendance is correlated with lower maternal mortality rates globally. However, the proportion of births with a skilled attendant was only 54.7% in Ghana in the year 2013. Therefore identifying the determinants of skilled attendance for delivery is a priority area to give policy recommendations. The study design was a cross sectional descriptive study. Probability and non-probability sampling techniques were employed in the sampling procedures. At the household level data was collected from women of reproductive age between 15-49 years, to find out some of the barriers to the effective utilization of the modern health care services, with emphasis on skill birth delivery. A total of 220 women of reproductive age were part of the study and four focused group discussions were conducted among opinion leaders in four communities. The quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS 18.0 while the qualitative data was analyzed using quotes and simple narrations. Only 29.5% of births were attended by skilled attendants in the district. Women who were aware of danger signs during pregnancy had a 3.1 odds of using skilled birth attendant (AOR=3.075, 95% CI [1.082, 8.743]). Some specific danger signs during pregnancy with significant odds on the use skilled birth attendant included; baby not moving for more than one day after the 20th week of the pregnancy (AOR=0.408, 95% CI [0.175, 0.956]).