Socio-economic determinants of birth preparedness and complication readiness behaviour among pregnant women in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta state of Nigeria

Abstract

In this paper, we investigated the impact of selected socio-cultural factors on birth preparedness practices and complication readiness among  pregnant women in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta state. A multi-stage sampling technique was utilized, which involved the  selection of the community Agbara from among the seven communities in the local government and using convenience sampling to select  Agbara-othor. Purposive and probability sampling was used to select 75 women who are either pregnant and close to delivery or have a baby less than one year old. The study built on the Andersen health utilization  model. Specifically, we examined the impact of predisposing and  enabling factors on birth preparedness. The data analyzed showed that about 38% of the respondents were prepared for birth and complication readiness, while 62% were not. The binomial logit model shows that women with higher educational qualification, women that are employed, those with history of obstetric complications, those with higher number of childbirth, women with knowledge of obstetric complications and  those whose husbands are literate are more likely to prepare for child delivery and ready for complications. Women that are divorced and  widowed were found to be less likely to prepare for both child delivery and complications. The study recommends among other things that health education for women in the locality should be expanded. Knowledge of obstetric complications should be integrated into ante natal care for all pregnant women in the locality and in promoting the health of women, the educational status of husbands should be duly considered.

Key words: Birth preparedness, Socio-cultural factors, Binomial logit and Delta state.